The Road Well Travelled

As you search for personal excellence you will find that at most times you need to shred the blueprint that you had followed all along which has led you to this very moment when you feel the need to start all over again. This need to start again is not a U-turn because just going back will not help your situation, remember you have been on this road, you are familiar with its terrain, the twists and turns, going back will not improve your situation. What this situation is calling for is a totally new and different direction to the one you have been all along. My friend Godfrey calls it "repositioning yourself", to me its taking a new direction, you are leaving the road well travelled and you are about to set out in a new direction. There are things to note if you are to navigate well in the new road:

1) The road you are leaving, the blueprint you are discarding, the position you re leaving is very common which means a lot of people are on the same road as you. Some are aware or have even reached the same level of awareness as I assume you have now otherwise you would not be here; that they need to change direction. The only thing that is holding them back from discarding the disastrous blueprint from taking a new direction is that they are taking comfort in numbers. This a busy road, with so many people in it, not everyone can be wrong they try to justify why they should not change direction even though they are convinced its a wrong direction. As long as there are other people whom they relate and equate themselves to, are seemingly travelling on the same road as they are they feel that there is no need to change. Before the start of my journey to self discovery I was guilty of the same behaviour, I was in the habit of postponing dealing with my debt problem taking comfort in the fact that in the west, we live in debt fuelled society so its normal to be in debt. "Everyone has debts", I used to say to justify my inaction in tackling an impeding problem. As you leave this well travelled road just remember you there will be fewer people in the new direction you are taking. The new direction is a road less travelled with a fewer people on it, you will need to have strong self confidence and a firm believer in your intuition otherwise you might find yourself making a U-turn to the familiarity and comfort of underachievement and of failure.

2)This a new road remember, you have not been here before so you will need to know all you have to about this road if you are to navigate it safely and successfully. Before the modern day amenities it could have been difficult or even unthinkable to change course. It would be a trial and error exercise, I am not saying that this new journey you are embarking on will be error free, it is only that the number of errors have been minimised by the development of humans, advancement of education and technology. If we are literally talking about taking a new direction then in this day its quite easier its a matter of re-programming your satellite navigation system and you will have instructions on how to get to your destination.

I cannot overstress the the above point it is very important; as matter of fact it is the core of my post today. Suppose you want a change of career, you feel stuck in your present job maybe the prospects of getting ahead are dim or let us just say you need a change. You will need to equip yourself with all that you need in order to succeed in your new career. Lets just say you have decide to be come an actor, you might want to start by taking acting lessons whether you choose to rely on books on acting that you can find at the local library or you feel you will need to go back to college full-time and earn an acting degree is immaterial. What is important here is that you acquire everything that you can possibly get in order to do well in your new career. This principle applies to any career change, you might want to be a professional chef or to run your own business, you will need to invest time and money to prepare yourself for the change.

The other issue you need to be aware of is that for some change of direction will take longer in terms of time but do not despair it still can be done. Nothing lasts forever, it might seem long to enrol at University and learn medicine for 7 years but eventually the years will pass and in the end you will become a doctor. As you take this new direction remember to keep your eyes on the prize, it is the focus and zeal that will make time pass. It is never too late to change course, to take a complete new direction, to leave the road well travelled. Take a moment and think where you are now, is it the direction you want to take? Are you going to accept mediocrity of the road well travelled over the true potential of who you can truly be. You can be anything you want to but if you do not change direction you will always lament "why me" as most of the users of the road well travelled do.