|
Remember high school geometry? One point can support an infinite number of lines through it, yet two points can have one, and only one, line through
them both. Two points define a line. That's one of the most important geometry laws, if I remember what Mr. Sanchez tried to teach me back in tenth
grade.
Do you have a career goal, or a line drawn for your career direction? If you define only a single goal, the single point lets lines go off in all
directions. Some may be helpful, but most likely, you'll waste an enormous amount of time and career energy and get no benefit. You're adrift in a
career ocean, letting each current carry you somewhere else.
Let's dig deeper. If your current career goal is Point A, and you're Point B, you may think you have a line directly to your career goals. But the Boy
Scouts will tell you drifting remains a problem, and the line to your career goal isn't nearly as direct as you think.
Mr. Doolin, my long-suffering Scoutmaster, took us out hiking and explained how to get back. He did a good job, too, since we all made it, even the few
he probably hoped would get lost
Point A, your goal, is fixed. Let's say Point A is
an unusual tree marking the edge of your campsite. Point B (you) is not fixed. Remember, Mr. Sanchez insisted that two fixed points determined a line; one fixed point determines an infinite number of lines.
Point A, the identifiable tree, lies due north from your spot. It stays put. You, however, wander east and north and west and all around.
Point B makes headway toward Point A, but only indirect headway, with lots of wasted time and energy.
Your career goal must be fixed, as in Point A. But
a single career goal allows you to wander about, fooling yourself by thinking you're making progress, while your goal remains unreached.
Mr. Doolin knew the answer. Mr. Sanchez did also, but knew better than to go camping with a bunch of 12 and
13 year old boys and try to teach them geometry.
To reach Point A efficiently, you must make Point B a fixed object for reference, and let Points A and B
determine your path. You become Point C, traveling the fixed line determined by Points A and B. Geometry, with help from the Boy Scouts, will keep your career moving.
While hiking, we picked a rock between us and the Point A tree. The rock became Point B. We became Point C, a group of laughing, whining,
arguing, teasing, tired, happy, angry, and confused fellow travelers. But we traveled a straight line toward our goal.
There are two great benefits to defining a career line: first, you avoid wandering; second, keeping your goal in sight helps you overcome
obstacles.thing.
There are two great benefits to defining a career line: first, you avoid wandering; second, keeping your goal in sight helps you overcome
obstacles.
Realistically, hiking toward a location without defining
a straight line to your goal just wastes some time. When you wander off your path, you can see your mistake fairly quickly and get back on track, with just a little time wasted.
Wandering off your career track means much more trouble.
You may not be able to change directions for close to a year, so time stretches interminably while you wander. Career goals aren't as fixed as trees, and will likely move farther away when you wander off track. Trees can shelter a large number of Boy Scouts, but many career goals fixate on a single desk in a corner office. Getting there late because of a detour could be worse than never getting there at all.
The second problem that comes with lacking a career
line, the inability to overcome obstacles, may be even worse than wandering around. People lose sight of their goals, then self-destruct when they hit an obstacle. The obstacle overwhelms their ability to see anything except the obstacle, and they fold or commit career suicide. Their career line disappears.
When you can see your goal in the distance, clearly marked on a line with intermediate goal(s), obstacles
cease to crash your career and turn into problems to be solved or delays to be overcome. Keep your "eyes on the prize" and your feet moving, and obstacles expire rather than explode. When obstacles do get painful (and some unfortunately will), keeping an eye on your goal helps you deal with the pain and frustration.
Your career line forces your career journey to continue in the right direction. Since you have a goal, you may
as well get there the quickest and easiest way possible. Follow a straight line, defined by at least two points.
|
