Cant' get there from here!

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"...vague goal like “be happy” or “be rich” or wishy washy objectives."

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It seems obvious as you are assigned as navigator; map unfolded giving forewarning of upcoming exits to the driver. The map in front of you is a mess of intersecting lines, but with a keen eye on the destination, the peripheral lines, not marked with a highlighter are unimportant peripheral clutter, as you focus on the road you are travelling and which exit is next to get you nearer to your destination.

I wonder what age; a person becomes capable of reading and interpreting a map, and how to target a destination, and more importantly not to follow roads that take you in the wrong direction. But I am confident in my belief by the time we become adults; this is a natural and easy task.

What seems to be impossibly difficult at times, as adults, is managing the endless number of decisions we need to make in our personal and professional lives... so many choices, so many options, so many ramifications of our every decision. Decisions that will take us off in many different directions, decisions that affect other decisions. A daily, even hourly, exercise that every human must endure.

Let’s go back to navigating now, the map on your lap, a driver anxiously awaiting notification on what is the next exit, what highway should we be on. But, this time, you are not fortunate to have a highlighted trip marked out, and even worse.. no destination identified. Now the map is a large unfolded confusing mess of lines, colors, numbers, and pictures.

I think you see where I am going with this (even without a map)

In order to make correct decisions in our lives, we need a destination. Not a vague goal like “be happy” or “be rich” or wishy washy objectives. We need to make specific, tangible destinations. Something that every decision (EVERY), can be help up against the destination. As we reach crossroads (nice play on words there I must say), the decisions are crystal clear when we pause to say “Will this get me closer to my goal”. If not, then it is not the right decision. Major or minor work and personal decisions can be held up to destinations that you have defined for each.

Driving down the highway, and taking an exit that leads you to something interesting, may result in a meandering country side drive that takes you far away from your planned destination.. And could even possibly take you to a point that getting to your destination is impractical, so you offhandedly select a new goal, then another, then another as you drive endlessly in circles around the continent. Never reaching the well thought out and desired outcome of your trip.

These side roads are tempting, and often appealing for the short term, but can lead to failure in the big picture. Personal decisions are easy to send us off to travel in endless circles. 

Unfolding your personal or professional map, be very specific, measurable when placing a mark on it, circling it and committing to that is where you end up. Then as you encounter traffic circles, off ramps, crossroads, detours the choices are very simple and uncluttered and all of the other roads on the map are just indeed unimportant peripheral clutter.

“Will this [insert choice of decision here] bring me closer to my goal?”.. repeat, repeat, repeat.

That was stupid!... Let's do it again!!

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"...I am going tell you all of the mistakes that I have made..."

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Hindsight is 20/20 there is no disputing that, looking back in time presents us facts that are 100% accurate, and unchangeable.

As we enter a new year, boardrooms are full of executives working strategies and planning for new successes, and maybe even more timely, individuals begin planning New Year’s resolutions to make themselves better people and make their lives more successful.

Companies and people spend their time planning how to re-invent themselves, starting with a clean slate. Only to realize a year ago, they sat in identical meetings or self-reflection and find that their plans did not meet or even come close to expectations.

I suggest that a clean slate is a canvas destined for failure. Thousands of years of successes and failures have no place on a clean slate, and ignoring the opportunity to reference all of mans history is a self important ego trip bound for disappointment.

Let’s instead, start with a slate that is full of retrospection on successes, what DID go right, what DID work, and take the humbling approach on building planning on those items. Understanding of course that in every life or business, there are limitless areas to improve. But taking the time to analyse and dissect the successes is the buildings are fully proven building blocks to start constructing the new year. Repeating factors that result in successes obviously are a much better foundation than starting afresh with unproven, overambitious tactics.

Less critical than successes and certainly not as motivating to review are failures experienced. Once again dissecting failed projects down to the root cause can help in repeating poor outcomes.

I had a high school shop teacher who introduced himself on the first day and announced that for this semester he said, “I am going tell you all of the mistakes that I have made”. He continued on, that by us being taught all of the common mistakes made, we will not repeat them and will by default learn the correct methods. This profound teaching philosophy has been a value to me a good number of times.

Maybe trusting our perfect 20/20 hindsight is a much more trustworthy source in our efforts to improve ourselves and is significantly better than relying on good intentions, and  a completely random series of events that will affect our future. Until I can find a crystal ball that had impeccable accuracy, I continue to start every work planning meeting or personal improvement exercise... is with the simple question, “what went right last year and why”.