Let’s talk about the “Why’s.”
What is your “Why?” This is probably the most asked question posed during any leadership conference. Why are you working as hard as you are? Why are you in your current position? Why are you struggling? Have you got a plan or are you just winging it? Frankly, if you don’t have an answer to any of these questions, having no plan is mistake number one. You must have a vision, a plan, and write it down. Call it a life map if you will. You have to know where you want to go! Write it down. Mapping it out gives you something to reflect on to see your progress. Seeing where the proverbial “X” marks the spot.
Just like getting in a car, what’s your destination? I can’t say I’ve ever got in the car and just drove to no destination. We’ll end up somewhere, either by choice or circumstance. Even joy riding has a cost. You’ll run out of gas eventually, so you better know where the nearest gas station is. Don’t navigate this life aimlessly and grumble about things not changing for you. You need to tell yourself where you want to be. You need to paint the picture, and speak the words of life that’ll fuel you to get there.
Life is not by chance, there is even a decision to be made to allow that kind of mindset to begin with. No shocker here, but life takes work and planning behind each good and bad decision we make for it. I mention the bad also because we can plan, and our plans can fail and that’s okay too. We just have to re-strategize and take a different route. We don’t think of celebrating the failures, but I say, “Good for you! You at least took that step towards your goal! It didn’t work and yeah, that sucked, but let’s try this again…differently this time.” Not many can say that. Most stay stuck in the zone of “I failed once and it hurt, so I’m not going through that again, “or maybe, “yeah, that’s not for me,” or the infamous “if I won the lottery, maybe then.” Leaving your life to chance? No thanks! I’ll plan and dream big any day over chance.
So, let me ask, do you even know “who” you want to be? Many look at others and say things like, “man, if I were them I would have it all.” But do you stop to think about what that individual had to go through to get where they are today?
I think of Oprah Winfrey and her current billionaire status that most could only dream of attaining. But did you know that she came from humble beginnings? Born into poverty and family dysfunction, she was raised by her grandmother to the age of 6 and then went to live with her mother for a few years and then sent to be with her father as a teen. Things were not easy for her. The queen of media herself was fired from her first television job as an anchor. She didn’t have it all from the beginning. She had the vision though and she pioneered a new way of running a talk show.
The way to reaching your “Why,” those big dreams, is by taking small steps towards them. Don’t stay complacent with the thought only in your head. Write it down and map it out. See what that journey is going to look like and become your own biggest cheerleader leading the way.
Cheering you on,
Your little pearl – Perlita