What the Children's Book "The Dot" Can Teach You About Business

When you're a business owner, a manager, or someone who just comes to work in the morning, sometimes you need a little inspiration to get through the day.  Sometimes you need that extra boost to help you think outside the box.

We recently read the book "The Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds, which is a simple children's story. The girl, Vashti, is convinced she's no artist and is rebelling against the art teacher.  

"Art class is over, but Vashti is sitting glued to her chair in front of a blank piece of paper. The words of her teacher are a gentle invitation to express herself. But Vashti can't draw - she's no artist. To prove her point, Vashti jabs at a blank sheet of paper to make an unremarkable and angry mark. 'There!' she says."

The teacher encourages the young Vashti to try again. She then takes the paper with the simple mark, frames it, and hangs it in her office. 

So Why Is This Story Worth Mentioning?

Well, first, we were totally intrigued by the title — The Dot. Come on.  That's awesome.

But also, because we've all been there:  Stuck in a position where someone asks us to do something we don't want to do – either because we don't want to, or we think we can't.

We react like Vashti does - her fear of failure is keeping her from trying. Fear is also keeping her from succeeding, and succeed she does, eventually.  But only after time, practice, and effort.

How often is fear keeping us from succeeding, before we even try?  How much more successful can we be in business, and in life if we try, regardless of the negativity in our heads?

There's a lot we can learn from "The Dot".

Which makes us like dots even more than we did!