I grew up in the back of this plane…
Yesterday’s post talked about making sure you keep the plane flying immediately after an unplanned change in job status. Today, we’ll talk about taking advantage of your situation to figure out where you really want to go next.
Navigating in the air requires that you know where you are and where you’re going (duh). That also entails knowing what airspace you are permitted to fly in and the requirements for those spaces, key waypoints or landmarks, as well as your current or planned airspeed and trajectory, and the factors that will influence that (head/tail/cross winds, drag factors including weight, fuel consumption rate etc.) While it’s important to use your calculations and (well calibrated) instruments, equally important is staying present and being aware of your surroundings by (another duh) looking outside the cockpit, so you can make necessary adjustments to stay on path. When flying straight and level in smooth conditions, it’s easy to get complacent and operate on a kind of auto pilot. The risk there is that you fail to adjust for changing conditions and drift off your path, which can get you into trouble. In an emergency, you still have to navigate – where’s the nearest airfield and can I make it there? If not, what is the terrain and where is the safest place to put down? You are fully present and aware, highly observant of opportunities.
If a person does not know to which port he is steering, no wind is favorable to him.
— Seneca, “ignoranti quem portum petat, nullus suus ventus est.”
Back to your job situation. Assuming you’re “flying the plane” and a crash is not imminent, your next priority is to navigate a new route. This is where your opportunity lies! You’ve been given the chance to re-evaluate whether that flight path you were on was really where you wanted to go anyway, and to chart a whole new course if it wasn’t. The sky is huge, the possibilities pretty much limitless – grab this gift with both hands and make the most of it!
A key component in any navigation is a compass – making sure you’re aligned with the heading you want to take. Similarly, as you plot a new path, you will want to callibrate your inner compass so that you know where your own True North is. In my experience, most of the times people are unhappy in their careers, it comes down to a lack of clarity about, and alignment with, their core values. We just don’t tend to take the time to really think about these but so much unnecessary struggle (drag, if you will) is created when people are either not clear on their values, or we have conflicting values in play. When you get absolutely clear on your top values, ranked by priority, it’s amazing how easy it is to make decisions that align with those values – and all of a sudden, how much easier life gets! Where we are is the result of a constant and repetitive pattern of (mostly small) decisions in a specific direction. Knowing your “True North” allows you to head in the right direction, and regularly checking in with yourself to ensure you’re still in alignment with your values enables you to make small corrections to stay on track instead of waiting until a huge adjustment is necessary and then feeling stuck.
Once you’ve callibrated your navigational instrument (your values, using your intuition), you can then decide on a new destination and set goals (waypoints or landmarks) that will help you reach it, with regular check-ins and course corrections to keep you on track.
Navigation checklist:
- Check winds aloft: Identify and prioritize your top “move towards” and “move away from” values.
- Identify destination airfield: Clarify and articulate where you’re headed.
- Identify terrain, airspace & weather: Chart your course, knowing what factors to take into consideration.
- Identify waypoints: Set effective goals to reach your destination.
- The sooner you get clarity and adjust your attitude (the position of your nose in relation to the horizon) upwards, the faster you’ll be back at cruising altitude!
- Tip – investing in a good coach at this point can pay dividends, like having a co-pilot helping with the navigation.
Now that you have a clear idea of where you want to go, effective communication can help you get there. Check back in tomorrow, same bat channel.
Love it…I’ll pass it on to elaine