Did you ever embark on a journey without a map?
My father would spend weeks before any road trip, calculating how far we were going, where we would end up, the relative cost, the type of clothing and food to take along, and the time it would take to get from point to point. He brought extra gas tanks as a precaution to avoid being stranded. These trips were taken from Turkey through Europe and back.
Without a map or plan you are like a pinball bouncing around and hoping to stay in action, floating, without disappearing down a hole.
Speaking of floating, you need to be the captain of your ship.
What do captains do? They STEER the ship.
Airlines have two captains in flight. They also have auto-pilot. Why the redundancy?
The first pilot can be incapacitated, then there is a backup. The auto-pilot may malfunction. Someone needs to keep their EYES ON THE ROAD and be prepared for any contingency.
What does your road look like? Do you read the SIGNS on the road on which you are traveling? Are you aware of market moves in terms of social changes, national economic policy, political decisions - new rules and regulations - that may affect your state or community, etc.?
Did you ever get on a bicycle, pick up speed, and take your hands off the handlebars? Pretty neat feeling, except when you lose control or hit a bump and then you are scattered on the road!
Keeping on top of things means STEERING your fate with constant attention to your abilities, speed, quality of knowledge, and being observant of changes in view of which you must stay aware.
A pilot of a naval vessel knows that even the slightest change in the angle of the rudder means that you will go off course. And the results could be disastrous. You may not only get lost, but possibly not find any mooring ahead before you run out of fuel or food.
Modern boats and ships use radar to see what is ahead in terms of landforms and weather patterns. You must also develop a sense of radar in order to prepare for things not seen and unanticipated. This requires research and planning.
What do you do when you hit an unanticipated roadblock? Can you reassess and overcome the barrier? Do you give up and just stay inert? How much time can you afford to allow to pass before you are back on your feet and following that map which traces your strategy and tactics in order to achieve your goals?
Some say that the journey is the trip, not the destination. That may be true in some artistic version of life's journey but is not a great aphorism on which to base your livelihood!
Why constantly slip on your transmission while attempting to meet your goals?
How debilitating is an automatic transmission that is slipping constantly? Loss of power, waste of fuel, loss of time.
When is time not of the essence?
Do not put your business on autopilot unless it is so well oiled and developed that you can afford to take your eye off the road and know that you are meeting milestones and working on eight cylinders while you do something else.
(I have seen great restaurants go down the tubes within just a few days of unsupervised kitchen staff, service, and food quality. You will never get repeat business if you are not constantly on top of as many critical details of your business as possible.)
I am including the last example here, after the original posting, that ties dependency on the digital world while navigating in the real: How many accidents are caused by people checking emails, texts, maps, youtube, movies, SM on their cell phones while attempting to drive in real-time? If you rely on the (electronic) machines without being aware of real people, real action, the real world around you -- real community... you will crash.
Take control now, remap your future, and succeed!
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