Grit your teeth...and pull.

So here you are. Blithely heading down the road of your life and/or your career. One day, you stop and look around. The road doesn't look like it used to. You suddenly realize: you are on the wrong road. Actually actively heading towards a place that you don't want to go. The obvious solution is; Stop. Turn around. Find a new road.

The truth is that it isn't usually that simple. There are forces that conspire to keep us moving down the same, wrong, road. Expectations. Experiences. Mortgages. Fear of a different road. Not even know where the other road is.

Then, once you identify the road that you want to be on, it does not necessary get easier - in fact sometimes it is a lot tougher. Several years ago, I did a 4-day solo canoe trip down the headwaters of the Mississippi. I had good maps and a good plan. The problem arose because the REAL river, doesn't look like the maps. The map shows a nice, clear blue line. The reality of the situation was much, much different. The "river" spreads out into a marsh that is about a mile wide - it was like that for about 2 of the 4 days. So, the routine was that I would paddle my way into an large open pool. Then paddle VERY slowly around the edge of the pool looking for a trickle of current - the direction that I needed to move in. Once I determined the direction that I needed to go, the real work began. Back up, paddle like hell toward the ripple and "ground" the canoe between two floating masses of grass. Then walk to the front of the canoe, grab onto the swamp grass...and pull. Walk back to the middle of the canoe, and pull. Walk to the back of the canoe, and pull. Walk back to the front of the canoe, and pull. You get the idea. Typically I would have to do that for about 45 minutes to an hour, before hitting a section of open river for 15 or 20 minutes - then it would start all over.

The direction was not the tough part. The direction was the easy part. Getting from where I was to where I wanted to be was tough. It would have been much easier to find a nice open pool and paddle around in circles. No blisters. No splinters. No razor grass cuts on my hands. And, most importantly...no progress. Too often we paddle around in circles, because it is easier than real forward motion.

Real forward motion take work. It takes gritting your teeth, and pulling.

Right now, I am working on my direction. I'm a little nervous, because I know I'm not on the right road, and I know then when I find the road - the real work will start. Part of why I'm here is because this will help give me the insights to figure out what to do - and then the strength to actually do it.

Good luck on your rivers.

Opportunity

So, how do you know when a given opportunity is the "right" one? I have made some decisions throughout the course of my life that, at the time, presented themselves as great opportunities, but in retrospect...not so much. I can attribute some of the problems that have arisen to "bad luck" but I'm really not that into buck-passing, so I have to acknowledge that, for whatever reason, I failed to make the most of these seeming opportunities. Or did I? As one looks back over the course of the decisions that have been made and the directions that have been taken, it is easy to see where a change of course would have been prudent. Hind sight is, as they say, 20/20.

So here's the question for the day: How do you take the decisions from the past and use them to make better decisions in the future? As opportunities arise, how does one go about effective evaluation in order to make the best decisions possible, and then maximize the opportunity through appropriate action?

Seems to me that the only way to learn from life is to actively examine what went well, and what didn't. In "Made to Stick" authors Dan and Chip Heath cite an example of a study that was done where-in two groups of college students were asked to consider a "problem" that they could see the end of - a relationship or stress of school - something like that.

Group "A" was asked to envision what their life would be without the problem. Focus on how it would feel to no longer have the problem. Group B was asked to actively consider what got them to where they were. Focus on the past and the thoughts and actions that got them to where they were. After 6 weeks, which group was further along in solving the problem? Group B. Considered contemplation of past efforts was vastly more effective than thinking only about the desired outcome.

Interesting.

Now please do not misunderstand that I am saying there is no room for visioning, focus or even the power of attraction - because I think that all of these elements absolutely come into play, all that I am saying is that when you have determined where you want to go, it is more effective to actively consider the circumstances that got you to where you are, rather than JUST focusing on where you want to be.

I guess that all I'm saying is the best way to make the best decisions is to actively and intentionally examine past decisions. What processes did you use? What worked, what didn't and then LEARN from what you did.

I'm not saying its a silver bullet, but I think it gives us the best shot we've got. Heck, we may even manage to learn something along the way.