The sun was shining this week, and it seemed at least for a few hours on Saturday that spring warmth was starting to arrive in Canada. With those golden rays, thousands of people headed out to the lake, for some socializing while traversing the trails.
But there was one issue with this otherwise picturesque scene.
Social Distancing is in effect.
Thousands of people were risking their health in an effort to escape their boredom for a few hours.
In this always-on world, we have lost the art of simply being by ourselves. One of the greatest tragedies of the 21st century is the inability of man (or woman) to sit alone with their thoughts.
The loss of this introspection makes attaining higher levels of success difficult. Afterall, how can we aspire to greatness if we don’t acknowledge where we are? Finding our “You are Here” on the map of your success is the essential first step to charting a course to that destination. As you practice social distancing this week, think about your “You are Here” point in your life.
Below are 5 questions to help you find that starting point. Be sure to answer these questions for all pillars of your life: Career, Financial, Physical health, Mental / Spiritual health, Relationships with family and friends, and your Romantic pursuits.
What are your greatest strengths? Your weaknesses?
This question helps you focus on your past efforts, your past development. Self-awareness in all aspects of your life helps you put the right plans in place. Understanding your assets and liabilities will help you leverage your unique talents and abilities, multiplying the effects of your efforts.
What opportunities are present right now in your life?
Re-framing how you look at the world helps see challenges in a new light. With so much fear and negative emotion being projected by the media, looking for those rays of sunshine in all areas of your life is a breath of fresh air. We often find what we look for, so why not look for hope and opportunity? That sounds like the world I want to live in.
What does success look like for you?
This can be perhaps the most challenging question to answer, or the easiest. Through my work at Business Minded, I have found that people have either not taken the time to think about this, or know with definite purpose where they are headed and why. Unfortunately, the latter group is certainly the smallest. Take some time in quiet reflection this week, and think about your life, where it’s headed, and the value of reaching those goals.
Are you on the right path?
If your previous answer was the destination you are aiming at, where do you stand now? Are you on the right path, or do you need to make some changes in direction? Are your strengths being capitalized on? Are the opportunities present in your life also on the same path? Too often we chase good ideas and opportunities that don’t lead towards that end goal. Far worse than being distracted by a bad thing, is being distracted by a good thing.
What is the first step on that path?
If you’re on the right path, great! What’s the next step? But if you need to make some course corrections, what is the first step that you can take? Maybe this is something as small as picking up a book, or taking a course to refine your skill sets. The idea is to identify what you can do right now to begin building that dream. Don’t try to take 100 steps, just focus on taking that first step. The rest of those 100 steps will come in time.
Looking inside ourselves, reading our own hearts can be a daunting task. Especially if you aren’t in the regular practice of exploring your soul. Take some time this week to explore you. There is beauty in there, when you take the time to look and smell the roses.