Have you noticed that despite your clear goal, great strategy, strong determination, and significant effort, you are not getting to where you want to be? Have you tried the same steps that others have successfully used, but haven’t gotten the same results? Have you wondered whether you should revise your goal, lower your expectations, or just give up all together?
Maybe the issue is not where you are going or how you are getting there. Maybe the issue is where you are starting.
Consider the family going to New York for a vacation. They buy a vacation package that has the itinerary of all the fun things they want to do, hotel reservations, show tickets and plane tickets from Chicago to New York. They are all set! Except, they are not starting in Chicago – they are in Minneapolis.
Are your plans to reach your goals assuming you are starting from some place other than where you are? We can focus on our goal – where we want to go, how wonderful it will be when we get there, and the best (or easiest, or most common) path to get there - but until we factor in where we actually are right now, our efforts will be largely unproductive.
What is your starting point?
Physical location may not be your issue. Maybe it is your mental, emotional or spiritual location that you need to recognize and embrace so that you can chart a path that takes your from where you actually are to where you want to go.
So where are you, really?
How do you feel about your current situation?
What is motivating you to change?
What is compelling you to remain where you are?
What patterns in your life have become comfortable? What will it really cost you to change them?
What fears are part of your thinking?
What experiences have shaped how you value yourself and your abilities?
What do you believe about how this change will impact your life?
What are your strengths? How do you best employ them?
What hurdles seem to trip you up? What resources and support systems do you have to help you over the hurdles?
It may be hard to acknowledge your starting point. You may wish that you were past this point.
The reality is that the most effective route to the place you want to go begins at the place where you are now.
With a clear understanding of your starting point you can chart a personal course that engages your unique abilities and resources, addresses your specific challenges, and genuinely empowers you to reach your goal.
You can create small, manageable steps that move you forward and help you gain momentum. Best of all, you can not only reach your goal, but also sustain the changes so that you begin your next journey from a new starting point.
So…what is your starting point?