After spending 29 years in the financial services industry with one company you would think that my career path was set and taking me where I wanted to go. But in the words of Coach Lee Corso, "Not so fast". I have spent the last few months trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up! The past 29 years have definitely helped me determine what I don't want to do and what I want to avoid! However, it has been fun to really stop and think about what gave me the passion to continue and what motivated me to show up every day ready to do it all over again. Sometimes we need to step away from our career and reflect on what we have been doing, a check point if you will, to really determine what is important to us and what it is that we would like to change or work on in the future. My reflection helped me to identify what I want to spend "version 2.0" of my business life focused on. With this I can now start to develop the roadmap on how to get there. Too many times in business today people have great aspirations but they fail to plan and create a roadmap that will help them reach their destination. Let me share a quick story.
Early on in my career when it was time to do our annual business plan, I would determine what I wanted to accomplish during the coming year (which was always more than last year), write it down on the "business plan" forms and hand it in. At the end of the year I would pull out the paper and see if I achieved my objectives. If I had we celebrated. If not, well better luck next year. A training session I attended changed the way I planned and had a dramatic impact on my business going forward. You see how can you get to where you are going without having a road map that will guide you through the territory you have never been. As part of your "journey" you also have set "check points" to make sure that you are still on the correct road. If not you need to make adjustments to bring your course of travel back in line. Upon committing to having a plan in place with check points along the way I was able to see my business grow and I was in greater control not only of my business but of my emotions as well. If you would like help developing your own "road map" or in reflecting on what your focus should be, don't hesitate to reach out.
