Should you get on this train or not? Do you know the general direction you are heading? When you plan for the future, at what point do you actually start moving towards it?
Closer to, or farther from?
If you wonder where the train metaphors are coming from, I just came back from a meeting in Europe. While I was there, I need to travel from Amsterdam to Antwerp. There were numerous options to choose from. I didn't know which one I needed for the most efficient route, but I knew the general direction. I could have spent 30-minutes looking for the quickest path, but after a 9-hour flight I wanted to get moving. So, I jumped on the first train towards Rotterdam, took the train schedule with me, and figured out what I was going to do while I was moving forward.
You do not have to have every piece of the puzzle in place before you jump on the train!
The objective of any plan, is to get closer to it with it every passing moment. In my example, I could have jumped on a train to Utrecht as well. It would not have been the fastest, but my momentum would have gotten my closer to my objective. In a perfect world, we would know everything we need to do and have the most efficient plan. We would have every contingency worked out, know every hurdle that needed to be jumped, and our start to finish time could not be improved. Yeah, do you know anyone that lives in that world? If that's the case, there would never be any need for a version 2.0, because 1.0 would have had everything figured out.
Reid Hoffman, Founder of LinkedIn said in his famous quote; "If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late"
Why are you stuck?
If you feel stuck, ask yourself these questions first.
- Do you really know where you are headed?
- Do you know why you are heading in that direction?
- Are you going to be happy with the destination?
If you don't have answers to these questions, you most likely aren't stuck - you are not committed to the journey. Having committed yourself to the journey, you know there has to be something that can get you closer to your objective. That could be something as easy as reading a book on the subject, packing your clothes, calling a customer, networking at an event. There is always something you can do to keep you moving on the right track.
At the Kole Performance Group we work with individuals and companies helping them define the track. Guiding you along your journey, regardless of the detours, so that you can enjoy getting to your chosen destination! Contact us to help you map out your future!
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