Posts Tagged ‘direction’

When being on track is being lost…

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

I was out walking again today, and as ever, it taught me a few things of broader application.  The number of times today that we were happily marching along a clear, straight path, and according to our plan, we were meant to proceeding along a straight path… so no problem, right?  Wrong!  Sometimes, and in fact several times today, the straight path on the map was not same as the one we were walking along.  Knowing when to turn to stay on track is a skill that is very useful.

Another time we were marching along, I was confident that I knew exactly were we were and I saw a road “What is that doing there?” I asked, “There is no road on the map…”   Of course, we weren’t where I thought I was, and I should have seen the road and asked “Where are we really?”   It is so easy to assume that you are where you wish you where, rather than taking account of the evidence before you. 

Despite this little catalogue of minor navigational glitches today, we continued to adjust what we did and had a wonderful walk in beautiful November sunlight; as the sun is so low in the sky now, it produces wonderful gentle and contrasting tones.  Sometimes we need to remember our higher purpose, and today it was simply to be somewhere lovely and get some exercise; my original route was merely one way to do this, and not necessarily the best one.

Having a plan, and working that plan and reaching your goal are not always the same things.  Remembering why you are doing what you are doing is the key to successful navigation and much else….

“Oh, my ways are strange ways and new ways and old ways, And deep ways and steep ways and high ways and low, I’m at home and at ease on a track that I know not, And restless and lost on a road that I know”    Henry Lawson

 

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Lost in the dark?

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

As a keen walker and fan of all those survival-type programmes, one of the things they talk a lot about is what to do when you are lost.  One of the hardest thing in the world to do is realising that continuing to go forwards may not be a good idea.  We all like to feel that we are ‘doing something’ and accepting that what we are doing isn’t working is a really tough first step.  Sometimes just sitting down where you are and waiting can be the very best thing you can do.  If you have to do something, then the next best strategy is to retrace your steps to the last place where you know you weren’t lost.  With a aid of GPS this is much easier of course!

The thing is that when you are walking or travelling this kind of thing is pretty factual, but in the so called ‘real life’ it is much tougher to realise that we have lost the plot and far tougher to stop.  It takes real courage and fortitude to wait till the fog clears and your next step is clear, or ask for help.

My question to you is:-

  • How do you know you are lost?
  • What do you do when that happens?

Lost is a pretty powerless place and very much at variance to tone of our ‘go-getter-plan-and-focus’ world, I suspect many people would it tough to admit it… even to themselves.  What about you?

“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.”   Henry David Thoreau

 

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Lost & Found

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

We all have the experience of misplacing something; that bunch of keys or those spectacles that we have put somewhere safe and sensible and now they seem to have been teleported to a parallel universe.  It is very frustrating, possibly irritating but we usually get over this quite quickly, in my case, usually once I enrol the help of one of the ladies in my life who seem to be able to see things differently and can just go straight to the lost item, raise their eyebrows and say “Here they are..”

The thing is that it isn’t only things that we lose, sometimes we lose our way, and that is both more distressing and more serious.  We feel lost, unsure of our decisions, not knowing which way to turn or who to talk to.  I think everyone experiences this, but when you are running a business if feels deeply threatening.  Particularly in times like these, when the environment in which we all operate is in state of flux or chaos.  Who you talk to at times like this?  Who do you trust?

It is one of the roles I fill for my clients who value an external perspective, and who find my questions helpful; in fact, I always seem to be doing this for friends and family too.  However, we all need someone we trust, someone who can challenge and support.. who do you turn to?

If you can’t answer this question, one strategy is to:-

  • Recognise your state,
  • Stop,
  • Avoid making key decisions,
  • Take some time for yourself, do those things that feed your inner person, and
  • Just wait till ‘normal service is resumed’. 

I know this is hard advice to follow, but few good decisions are made in this place, and recognising that you have lost your way is the first step to finding it again…  If you are in this uncomfortable place today, I wish you luck!!

“Stand still. The trees ahead and bush beside you are not lost.”   Albert Einstein

Resources:

  1. The Value of a Sounding Board
  2. Mentoring

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