Your direction is more important than your speed

After spending two years cooped up at home due to the coronavirus, we finally took a boat trip to the nearby lazarus island. We had a wonderful time on the island until it was time to get home. And can you imagine that despite an hour ahead of schedule, we found hordes of people already queuing up? When I say hordes, I literally mean it!

Much of the communication was broken down as there were insufficient signage and no sign of the people in from the boat operators. People were queuing blindly.

I suggest to my wife and kid that we spread out the picnic mat and have our tea break leisurely while waiting for our 4 pm boat.

“Are you crazy?” the wife said!

“At this rate, we would never get onboard our ferry! We might be stranded here!”

“Relax!” I said. “We already bought the tickets. We definitely have a safe passage home.”

That did not satisfy the grouchy wife. So I did what she wanted me to do as any good husband and father would, I went to join the queue even though that I knew better (read my book on Relationship for marital advice).

Long story short, after queuing for an hour, we realised that we were in the wrong queue and so did 100% of the people there! There were two ferry operators there with a few timings and to different locations and using one pier. People with both green and yellow tickets were all confused. When people saw the queue moving, they rushed to get onboard regardless of whether it is the right boat or destination.

As a Career Coach and Author, this reminds me of the countless people I see everyday when I coach and counsel people. Most people are concerned with being left behind that they do not question if their direction is right?

While catching the wrong boat may mean that you return to the main island at a wrong destination or time, moving in the wrong career direction could mean your youth wasted.

Most people lack career clarity and hop from job to job. At first they are excited about the work or the company that they will work for. Then they ask the job or the company to provide meaning for them. Eventually they drag themselves to work to pay off their mortgages while sinking themselves into further financial debts without living the life they want.

Are you lacking your purpose, life goal or career goals or you are part of the Great Resignation or considering to be? Have you thought of how you can be clear of your direction? Or are you like me at the start of the story, worried about being left behind on the island that you would rather feel safe in the numbers even though your direction is wrong?

Finally how can IDENTI3 help you achieve that right direction?