Charting A Course For Success

It's always "the little things" that seem to cause the most problems. Like a missing rivet, or, back in the days when people traveled on horseback, a loose horseshoe. Ordinarily, one less rivet or a missing horseshoe nail wouldn’t spell disaster.

But what if the rivet was missing on the side of a storm-tossed ocean liner? And, what if the missing horseshoe nail was on one of the horses pulling a cannon into battle? In each case, a disastrous situation occurred due to someone overlooking a seemingly small yet very important detail because they were focusing on the wrong goal.

Before you start pointing any fingers, you should also know that often the same principle holds true as we pursue our goals. Of course, there's absolutely nothing wrong with setting goals- we must do this if we're going to get anything done. But the problem comes when, in the course of trying to meet those goals, we get so caught up in the process that we overlook some very important details. The result: we get "off course" in achieving our goal because "the Project" overrides "the Purpose" and in many cases, takes its place.

Whether it's an aircraft, spacecraft or ship, in order to arrive at the intended destination, a series of "course corrections" are necessary. The pilot must continually interpret the current position in relation to the final destination--and be aware of potential hazards—so that small necessary adjustments can be made to stay on course and arrive safely.

In the examples given above, as a result of lack of attention to details, disaster and loss of life became very real possibilities. While trying to "finish the job", many people involved in the process lost sight of the real goal: making sure the job was done well so that the ship and horse, respectively, could make the trip and perform its function safely.

So how does this relate with Marketing and running your own business? More than you realize.

Just like the workers who were given the task of preparing the ship and horse for service, we can also get the idea that “goal" for our business is determined by our current campaign or project. We start thinking that we must focus all of our efforts and energies to finish it.

It's a proven fact that "where you look is where you go." How many times have you started to veer off the road toward what you were trying to get a better look at as you passed by it? (You've done it too, huh?) Well, the same principle holds true in anything we do. We can get focused on achieving an immediate goal that we totally lose sight of the real goal--the reason for having a business in the first place. For most of us, that is something like being able to spend more time with our family, or to have the means to do things together and to go places with them.

Maybe you've been pre-occupied with your business endeavors. Whether or not this is the case, we should practice regular "course corrections" as we work to meet our personal and financial goals. And we need to be sure we're focusing on the real goal, not just the "immediate" one.

One suggestion is to write out a detailed description of your real goal. Then put it where you'll see it daily to help you to remember that your business activities are supposed to be a means to that end; they are not the goal. If you don’t make the effort to actively chart a course for success, you will run the real risk of experiencing personal and family disaster because you weren’t aware of possible pitfalls and didn’t make small but needed adjustments to stay on course to reach your goal.

Charting A Course For Success

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