Set a Course

We set our own courses.

If you lost your job today, what would you do next?

More than likely, you’d put the word out that you need a new job. You might swing by LinkedIn and update your profile. You might put the word out to a few people you think of as “connected.” You’d set about finding a way to regain a salary.

If it took extra long, you’d probably get antsy and think about going back to school. You might lower your expectations. You’d probably start feeling bad about yourself (or worse about yourself than normal). You’d start wondering whether you’d ever find work again.

If you really squinted, you’d notice that every one of those actions was driven by your choice. You updated the profile. You put the word out. You investigated school. Choice. Action. You set a course.

Set a Better Course

This past month, July, I didn’t make enough money. Or rather, I made some money, but wished I’d made more. My first realization was that I’d have to come up with some new ways to earn some in August, or I’d get behind. So, I decided to put a few things in play that will set me on a course for achieving a better result.

If you want better results in life, set a course.

Here’s the thing: you have to move in that direction, and that has everything to do with you.

I want to be more healthy. I set the course of being more healthy. First, where exactly is that? In my case, that’s 40 fewer pounds than I’m wearing on my body right now, and that’s a lot more day to day physical activity, as well as eating better.

People tell me they’re setting courses all the time. “I’m working on getting better contracts,” I’ll hear. And then I’ll see in their tweet stream that they’re watching Top Chef and sad because their cow on Farmville is sick.

(Before you go defending the need for rest and relaxation, by all means – relax, recover. Do what you like. Just don’t tell me that they don’t relate.)

If Life Really Ran Like a Ship…

I went on a cruise last winter. The plus was that there were lots of great people that I like aboard the ship. The negative was that if I wanted to change my mind, I couldn’t. I was on the ship for the duration of the journey.

With the courses we set for ourselves in life, we tend to jump back off the ship quite often. Sure, ships make course adjustments. But they don’t just cancel the trip at the first choppy wave. They move forward and maintain their original travel plans.

The Question Is: Where Are You Going?

We have much more to say about this than we seem to believe. It’s your ship. You might have to take some time to earn enough money to achieve escape velocity to escape some situation you don’t want any longer, but even that is a choice. It’s a course YOU set.

So, where are you going?

Photo credit Lisa Andres