Repeated absences from home, family, children and social environment engage us in a cycle of personal reflection and self-understanding, a questioning of our physical and moral balance.
This post is the extension of a reasoning that we constantly keep in us and an answer to the questions we ask ourselves when we start to travel a lot. These questions are fundamental, at least for our understanding of the world and our place in it. This is the very essence of our quest…
What am I ultimately looking for ? What are my goals ?
The two methods below will help you answer these questions. But first, let’s analyze what forces us to ask ourselves these questions.
The world moves every second and imposes new challenges, new constraints, new problems. Fast globalization forces us to constantly change our reasoning, pushes our limits, balances our points of view.
Faced with this daily questioning, it is our vision of life that must allow us to adapt and seize opportunities. The risk of this obligation of adaptability is to get lost, to no longer know what you are looking for and to come to doubt… To finally come to disperse in professional or personal projects; and ultimately come to a dead end !
People who do not give meaning to their lives also find it difficult to analyse, see and understand what is preventing them from moving forward. This diverts them from their progress. Which fools them.
To achieve perfect control of your environment as a whole, you must give a guiding thread to your life.
“Goals convert vision into energy.” Dave Ramsey
A specific goal. A quest.
By finding your way you will progress. How ?
- Focused on your goal, you will no longer waste your time on secondary or uninteresting tasks.
- On permanent alert, you will seize opportunities to accelerate your progress.
- You will harden your predatory instincts and gather a mass of information to process.
- In your quest, this new knowledge will help you achieve your goal, your objectives.
- In total control with your values and your principles, you will logically eliminate what slows you down.
- You will prioritize yourself and delegate or give up what takes up your time.
It is the way of people who succeed in what they undertake. Whether it be athletes, artists, entrepreneurs, craftsmen, researchers… What makes them strong is the goal they have set themselves and which makes them move forward, push their limits and earn a living, sometimes very well. This inner quest pushes them to work harder, to demand more of themselves, to find their own weaknesses and always progress.
Without this analysis and this understanding, we will look everywhere and find answers nowhere. Sometimes in a tragic way when our wanderings lead us into idleness, drugs, alcohol, or delinquency.
The two methods
1 – The mountain path
The first method we use is the mental representation of our quest.
- What in life really inspires you, attracts you ?
- What would you really like ?
- What would you want most in the world ?
The more you desire something, the more determination you will have to achieve your goal.
Next, imagine a mountain and a small path that will lead you to the top.
Your past has brought you to this path and it is behind you. Forget it!
“Hope is not born on mountain tops, but in valleys when you’re looking to the heights & peaks that you’re yet to climb.” Susanna April
Now you are the only one who can climb your mountain. This path is your life trajectory, your path, your road. What will you meet there? Lots of good surprises and encounters that will enchant you, certainly amaze you. But also a lot of difficulties, danger, doubts, fears, predators. Some get lost, others never get to the end. They do not have the will to hurt themselves to deserve to reach the top of their mountain.
Now, during your crossing which is the guiding thread of your life, external elements will come to accompany you during your journey. What are they ?
Your life trajectory.
These external elements enrich (or not) your existence, your quest.
- Work,
- Friends, relations,
- Family,
- Activities…
Now that you have defined and know your precise goal, you must master these external elements 100% so that they help you to climb, progress, ascend. It’s up to you to control them, always keeping your goals in mind.
If they slow you down or divert you from your quest, they are balls, burdens that you will need; Either take them with you despite knowing that they will slow you down in your progress at the risk of never realizing your dream; Either exchange; Or get rid of it.
It is you who ultimately remain judge of the direction and meaning to give to your life. You bear the responsibility. But don’t stray from your path. Never !
Such is life, random encounters on our way, we go more or less far, more or less high. One thing is certain, those who know where they are going run faster and climb higher…
2- The spider web. Mind mapping
It is interesting to analyze that whenever we have periods of stress, doubts or questioning, we always try to make a black on white graphic representation of our lifes. The Mind mapping technique works as follows.
Make a small circle in the middle of a white sheet in which you’ll write “Me”.
Then make a second bubble that you’ll link to “Me” in which you’ll write “Work” then “Love” then “Children” then “Friends” then “Culture” then “Heath” then “Home” then “Finance» and Sports, Workout, Music…
For each of these new bubbles, you’ll link them to personal projects in order to make an organization chart of your life and determine your priorities, the areas of fear and improvement, the areas where you’re actually devoting too much energy.
For example, for “Work” you’ll link the bubbles “Clients”, “Projects”, “Markets”, “Strategy”, “Operations”, “Marketing”, “Finances”…
For “Health” you shall link the bubbles “Activities” (with family, friends or alone), “Sport”, “Food”, “Look” themselves linked to other sub-bubbles.
By analyzing the representation of your life, you can deduce areas of imbalance and a concrete list of corrective or development actions to apply to your projects and the organization of your agenda.
That way, you see the flowchart of your life evolve to balance each of the “Bubbles” which in your opinion have a certain degree of importance.
Each of them contributes to making us a balanced and happy person. So we know where to prioritize and where to slow down.
“I am alone here in my own mind. There is no map and there is no road. It is one of a kind just as yours is.” Anne Sexton
Happy CEO 