What If I’m Lost?

photo credit: dunzki

This interesting question popped up when I was speaking to one of our coaches during the Patterns Of Excellence program. When someone is lost, under what conditions would one be lost?

Here are common responses:

• when you can’t find your way;
• when you are out of options;
• when you can’t make a decision;
• when you have too many choices.

It wasn’t long before I realized that people who are “lost” are looking for a solution on the outside rather than on the inside. In other words, you can go out there and do one of the following:

• help people
• get upset, drunk or both
• read a book to seek answers
• stumble along wherever the world takes you
• search for a coach or a mentor

But unless it comes from a clear sense of who you are and why you do what you do, the positive gain you get from doing these things will only be temporary.

For many, the education system has given us a free ride up a ladder that hasn’t been questioned for years. We have been told to go to the next level and the next level after that, often taking “required” classes. I remember wondering why I had to learn certain things in mathematics, which I still don’t use up till this day. You go through the system from primary to secondary school or high school, then to a tertiary institution like a polytechnic or a university (or college for my friends from the other side of the world), get a degree, then get to work.

However, working itself may not have a ladder to climb. The corporate rat race keeps us moving up the ladder until one day, you are fired or you retire. Then all sense of direction is gone. You start working as an entrepreneur, then only you have the power to choose where you need to go, not the Ministry of Enterpreneurship. There’s no GCE ‘O’ or ‘A’ levels to pass. There’s no Diploma to earn. All there is are results.

This is the point where one’s personal alignment comes to be tested. Do you know who you are? Do you know what drives you? Do you have an inner compass that helps to to decide what move to make next?

A lot of the time, seeking clarity requires us to jump out of our current way of thinking to seek a different perspective. If you can’t do it, you may need someone to mentor or coach you to see things differently and in a more empowering and directed manner. These questions are readily answered when you take some time out and learn to rediscover yourself, and of course that place to do it matters. If you’re looking for direction, discover yourself at the Patterns Of Excellence.