Entrepreneur Men Desiring Success & Significance-Do You Know How To Return "Home?"
Thursday, July 17, 2008 at 01:27AM
A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.-George Moore
What does returning home mean to you as an entrepreneurial man striving for success at work and significance in your personal life?
Maybe you have lost your way in a certain area of life and you are returning to the figurative place where everything made sense to you.
Maybe an actual place?
I do remember from my Arkansas Sunday School youth the story of the prodigal son returning home. You know the one. The part of the story that always resonated with me was not the turn-around of the son, but the long-term perspective of the parents to provide a safe place to return home at any time during this journey.
In the Army, I learned to use a compass to direct my unit to a specific location. I was taught two navigation terms that remained with me and are even applicable in our own life during any professional or personal transition. The first term is True North. True North is the direction of travel that never changes on a compass. No matter in which direction you are traveling, your compass will always point True North. There is comfort in knowing, even when you are lost, that you have a constant that will never change. The second term is called a panic azimuth. A panic azimuth is when you are at your starting point and you are plotting your direction of travel to where you want to go. At any point you lose your way en-route to your final destination, simply turn around and follow a -180 degree setting back to where you started.
1. If you were asked to describe your "home base" to someone, what would you say?
2. Imagine in your professional and personal life today that you are a navigator. Right now, you have a compass in hand and you are plotting your compass setting and course of direction towards your chosen destination. Quickly list what are the True North realities in your life right now that are constant and will never change? Maybe, it is the support of your family or your optimistic long-term perspective?
3. Think upon any time you went for a goal or a particular success destination. Now, remember the feeling and the process you took in navigating towards that destination. Did you have a panic azimuth in case you lost your way? Apply this concept to your next venture: As you are in pursuit of your goals, what are the indicators that you should stop where you are and not move forward anymore because you are lost? Do you have a contingency plan in the form of a panic azimuth to find your way back home?
Matthew Scott
2 Comments
View Printer Friendly Version
Email Article to Friend
Reader Comments (2)
Matthew, great thoughts. There is security in having a long-term perspective, whether it is like the prodigal's parents, or just having vision. People often say, "he can't see the forest for the trees." That means we are too involved in the details of the moment to see the bigger picture. My "problem" is that I often can't see the trees for the forest! I am confident of the long-term objective - I know what 2, 3, 5 years looks like! I'm sure of it! I can see how the forest is laid out, the outline of it, it's scope, it's impact, its magnitude. But dangit if I can't figure out how to make sense that there are smaller trees all growing together to make that big forest! I get easily frustrated when the full forest is not bearing out in front of me NOW! I don't want to be planting seedlings now. I want to be standing back, flying over the massive forest in a helicopter enjoying the view. But for now, as I am starting, I must endure the essential task of planting trees, watering them, nurturing them, and growing them (with a little pruning for good measure!) When I do my tree work NOW with hard work, I believe that the forest will emerge in time. It's just hard to wait!
Randy,
I have little doubt that you know where "home" base is for you.Stay focused and keep your eyes on the prize.
Matthew