Most of us know where we would like to end up. We want to lose the weight, build more wealth, grow the business, spend more time with our family, or simply feel like we are making progress.
The problem is not usually knowing what we want.
The problem is drift.
Imagine I decided to drive from my home in Gulf Shores, Alabama, to visit a friend in California. There are a lot of interesting places between here and there. I could stop in New Orleans, spend some time in Austin, head north toward Colorado, or take a detour because someone tells me about a place I should see.
None of those would necessarily be bad decisions.
But if I kept making them without paying attention to the destination, I might never make it to California.
Now change the situation.
I have a hotel reservation in California on October 15. My friend has taken time off work. We have plans that night. My GPS knows where I am going and how long it should take me to get there.
I might still stop along the way, but every decision gets measured against one question:
Will this still get me where I said I wanted to go?
I think life and business work the same way.
We say we want to weigh 190 pounds. We want to hit a certain income number. We want the business to reach a certain level. We want more freedom.
But a lot of those goals are really just wishes sitting somewhere in the distance.
There is no arrival date. There is no route. There are no checkpoints.
That is how drift happens.
One missed workout does not matter much. One distracted day does not matter much. One bad financial decision does not matter much.
But days of drift add up fast.
Eventually, we look up and wonder why we are nowhere near where we thought we would be.
So maybe the answer is to treat our important goals more like destinations.
Get specific about where you are going. Give it a date. Work backward and decide what should be true this quarter, this month, and this week.
Then check the GPS regularly.
Once a week, ask yourself:
Am I still headed in the right direction?
What moved me closer this week?
Where did I drift?
What needs to happen next?
This is a big part of the work I do with my advisory clients. Not telling them what their goals should be, but helping them get clear on where they want to go, what has to happen next, and where they may be drifting without realizing it.
A GPS does not get upset when you miss an exit.
It recalculates.
That may be a pretty good model for us too.
The goal is not to be perfect every day. The goal is to notice sooner when your actions stop matching the destination you said mattered.
Because the longer you drift, the farther away you end up.
Mike