Are you preparing now for what you want to do next?
We all have our goals and dreams of what we’d like to do ‘one day‘ but how can you make that happen? For me, I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what it’s taken to get to where I am today. It’s really nothing more than just doing something. What’s that mean you ask? Great. Glad you did.
If you dreamed of being an architect that would one day redesign a mega mansion for a Will Ferrell, you couldn’t just step off the street and attain that goal. What you can do is this: Start doing things everyday that will get you on the right path.
If we all take a look at where are now, and think back in hindsight, what steps did it take for you to get where you are now. Take a look at the last 10 years of your life. I’ll bet there were many, many steps you took to get you to where you are today. Each one of those steps incrementally helped you progress your skill set to enable to you be better equipped to handle new projects, roles, and responsibilities.
Without taking steps to ensure you’re doing something on the right path to get you where you want to be, you’ll never get there.
photo credit: shawnrdavis via flickr
The Kamikaze Surfer
Think about it like a Kamikaze Surfer. If they want to ride the perfect wave and be the best they can be, they can’t just go to the ocean and ride it out of the shoot. What they can do is paddle out and practice for hours and hours over the course of time. It’s about the process, learning and experience. This process will enable them to know how to ride the perfect wave when it does arrive. Also, each fall they have will help them know what to not do the next time around.
It’s all about process (practice and patience).
You’ve got to try something and be persistent with it before you’ll know whether or not it’s going to work for you. In the spirit of lean development, you might not want to go too deep too fast, i.e before you spend tons of money on the best surfboard and gear, make sure it’s something you are going to want to keep doing in the months to come. Use the tools you have now to deploy early and often with your efforts. Learning quickly and deferring decisions are two things you can use in your approach to take steps now to get you where you want to be in the next 3 years.
