If you keep doing the same things, you will keep getting the same results! If you want to do something new, like climb a mountain, finish a triathlon, open a business or start a new career you have to be willing to create a new plan for yourself.
In business and in life it’s exciting to set your sights on your future state, a place where you want to be. Once you determine your future state then you can plan accordingly. Business leaders do this all the time. They decide that they want to be in a specific market or focus on a specific customer, and then they develop strategies and tactics to reach that future state. Business leaders are also good at measuring their progress with data as they move towards a future state. If they are not making progress, they adjust their plans.
Individuals can also decide on a specific future state and plan accordingly. I was so inspired by Diana Nyad when she swam from Cuba to Key West a few years ago without a shark cage. She was in the water for more than 53 hours! She had her future state in mind for more than thirty years! Nyad was 28 years old when she first tried to swim across the Florida Strait. Her personal mantra was find a way.
There will always be obstacles to overcome, barriers to breakdown, financial setbacks, health concerns and a host of other excuses that could keep you from reaching your future state but there is always another way. Nyad was successful during her fifth attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida because she embraced innovation, had the mental stamina to get through the agony, and had a fabulous team supporting her.You probably will need help reaching your future state, someone to lend a hand and pull you up the mountain when you feel like quitting.
George Harrison once said, “If you don’t know where you are going any road will take you there.” He’s right, many people pass through life without thinking about what they really want, and they allow things to happen to them instead of becoming masters of their own destiny.
Don’t just pass through life, determine your future state and go for it! Start today.
I will be delivering my keynote SOARING to New Heights at the Garden State SHRM conference on Oct. 17, 2017 in Atlantic City, NJ. I hope you can join me.