Every day when you leave the dream world and come into the real world, you have choices to make. So many choices that it can feel overwhelming at times. We can become so caught up in the day to day activity of keeping body and soul together that we can get lost. Knowing where you are going, what your goals are, and having a plan to get there has to be the number one skill for success, whether it is leading others or self.
The skill of navigation is powerful in every area of your life. Knowing how to navigate means knowing how to make to most of the resources your have in front of you. Are we being efficient in the right direction? We can be very busy. It is very easy to be very busy in all the wrong areas. We can become so engrossed in the process that we don’t realize we are not where we need to be. Like the old joke about the husband and wife driving in the car. The wife is not so sure they are on the right road and suggests to her husband that they pull over and ask for directions. The husband says that would just slow them down when they are making such good progress!
Sometimes we need to slow down in order to speed up.
Find your north star and chart your course. What gives your life meaning?
Do you remember the part in the story of Alice in Wonderland when Alice talking to the Cheshire Cat about which road to follow? Alice is at a fork in the road and sees the Cheshire cat in a tree. ‘Which road do I take?’ she asked. ‘Where do you want to go?’ was his response ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the Cat, ‘it doesn’t matter.”
It is important to know where you are and where you are going. When you know where it is you are going, what the goal or intended outcome is, then it is a lot easier to know when you are on course or off. Decision making is a lot easier too. There is a great misunderstanding that just because you are good at something or talented, you can just wing it. Those that find success know that navigation is key no matter how good or talented you may be because navigation is about preparing and having a plan for success.
There are certain steps to creating a great plan:
Reflect on the past, imagine the future – Just like in high school chemistry class, we create a hypothesis, test it out, learn from the experiment and then create a new hypothesis and repeat until we find the right formula to reach our goals.
Make a plan but be flexible – The point is to aim for the goal but remember that there will always be obstacles so be flexible on how you will get to the end. Change the plan not the goal. Try as we might, we cannot control everything. An old military adage says that “No battle plan ever survived first contact with the enemy”. What counts is a solid overall strategy and then adapt nimbly, quickly and intelligently to the circumstances as they invariably change.
Identify priorities – What will be your first steps towards your goal? You don’t have to know all of the steps but know what comes first is important. Don’t put your shoes on and then realize you need socks.
Inform key people and allow time for acceptance – Whatever your goals are, almost everything you want is with or through other people. They have their own goals too. Give them time to adjust if needed and accept any change that will affect them.
Be ready for roadblocks and obstacles – If there are none then you have set your sites too low! The purpose of a goal is to cause us to grow. You can’t grow if you are not stretching. Obstacles and roadblocks are simply a test of our commitment to the goal.
Take action – Don’t get stuck in the planning stage! We need a result to improve on a result. Unless you are a surgeon making that first cut on a patient, then chances are your first move is not a life or death decision.
Review and adjust – Now that you have taken action, what was the result? Was it what you expected? Did it move you closer to where you want to be? How could you have done it better?
If we work really hard and do what we can, give it our best shot, we can’t ask any more from ourselves. Everyone has a dream. How will you bring your dream into the light? Not all of us are great navigators so we need to bring other people into our lives to help us. Having someone around that can help you see what you cannot see speeds up the process. If you are a one person show, having the support of a coach makes all the difference. A coach does not navigate the course for the participant but a coach can help set the course and navigate the obstacles that arise.
A coach helps them stay on course and not get caught up in the distractions of everyday life. To not let the old habits that keep us stuck or the self-sabotaging activities that keep us from reaching our stated goals to become the dominating behaviour. Are you serious about creating your winning strategy for the year ahead? I am offering Private VIP Intensive Success Mapping Day. There are only 10 available. Book a phone appointment for more information here.