Time to Connect the Dots

You know those connect the dot pictures we did as a kid, the ones that your mom brought on road trips with a pack of pencils to prevent you from yelling “Are we there yet?” every mile or so? It turns out that kiddy pastime might just lead to financial prosperity: The ability to connect the dots breeds success. This news flash comes straight from homeowners in some of the richest zip codes in the U.S. How do I know this? Lately, I’ve been reading the book Rich Like Them by Ryan D’ Agostino because I couldn't resist the title nor the premise. You see-Ryan did what many of us secretly fantasize about while walking through the neighborhoods of McMansions wondering: How the heck did they make their money? And how I would just love to knock on their door and ask?

Ryan is the editor at Esquire Magazine and he had the guts to actually do it. He knocked on the doors of 500 households in the United States’ richest zip codes and ask them: “How ever did you make your money?” It sounds completely gauche, but by humbling himself and being perfectly blunt, the author uncovered quite a few pearls of wisdom that I think should be on the mandatory reading lists of all high school and college degree programs.

We’ve all heard the sage advice: Do what you love and money will follow, but in these door-to-door interviews with America’s wealthiest, Ryan uncovered another life lesson: to be alert, open, observant and curious as collectors of random information. Then, to be able to connect the dots so that all the random information points to an idea-the next big thing-I’m talking about ingenuity.

Connecting the dots could very well be the best life skill we can teach our children- better than reading, writing and arithmetic. If we teach our children to be curious about the world around them, to become collectors of random information and have the intellectual flexibility to sculpt relationships, themes, and trends out of these random tidbits, then we are priming their minds for success in their chosen career paths.

As for the adults, it’s not too late for us to start connecting the dots. In fact, there’s never been a better time since there is no quick buck to be made in the old standbys of real estate and stock market investing. So, grab your mental pencil and start making those imaginary lines, you just might be surprised at the picture that emerges. Oh.. and before you think that this is a paid book review, rest assured, it is not. I only seek to share with you something I think could motivate us all to start thinking out of the box instead of living inside it. That’s my thought for now…Gotta get busy connecting the dots for my next big idea. What’s yours?