Watch Your Southern Cross
“If you don't know where you're going, any road will do to get you there.” – Lewis Carroll.
Read the quote above again. Any road. Every road. It doesn't matter which one you take because without a destination they all lead to the same place. Nowhere in particular.
Today we have Google, Apple, Waze, and a multitude of Apps to help us beat traffic and navigate our way to our destination. Before that, we used physical maps. Whether digital or physical, maps are brilliant.
They tell you where you've come from. They show you where you're going. They give you context, orientation, and the confidence to keep moving even when the terrain gets unfamiliar.
But here is the question I want to ask you.
Do you have a map for your life?
Not your career plan. Not your five-year strategy. Not the goals your company set for you.
Your map. Your goals. Your values. Your life attributes. Your vision. Your life compass.
Have you done the work to build clarity on these? To know them deeply enough that when pressure arrives, and it will, you don't abandon them? Instead, they’ll be your guardrails to help you get to your destination.
What about a compass, a tool to ensure you are staying true to your chosen direction?
Sailors in the Southern Hemisphere have navigated by the Southern Cross for centuries. No GPS. No technology. Just five stars in a fixed formation pointing true south.
In the darkest night, on the most unfamiliar ocean, with no landmarks in sight, they looked up. Found those five stars and knew exactly which way to go.
That is what a map and compass do for a leader. It doesn't remove the storms. It doesn't flatten the terrain. It doesn't make the journey easier. It simply means that no matter how lost you feel in the moment, you always know which way is south.
Here is what happens without one.
You drift.
Not dramatically. Not all at once. Just gradually; walking any and every path because any path will do. Each step looks reasonable. Each decision seems justified in the moment.
But without a fixed point to navigate by, the cumulative effect of a thousand small drifts is devastating.
Your dreams — the purpose that only you can fulfil, the contribution that only you can make — slowly, quietly turn to ash.
Not because you failed.
Because you drifted with no map and compass. No vision, no mission, and no personal gyroscope to repoint your direction toward your life destination.
Theodore Roosevelt encouraged us; “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” To achieve this means we must work at building our clarity. Know our values. Articulate our vision. Find our fixed point – our destination.
Then when the storms come, and we know they will, you know which way is south.
You know which way is home. Don't let your dreams turn to ash. Don't drift. Seek clarity. Begin with the end in mind.
That work, the inner work, is never finished, but it is always worth doing.
Know thyself.
Map your way. Trust your compass.
This week's reflection:
If you are honest with yourself right now — are you building with a map —a clear personal vision, values, attributes, and life goals, or are you drifting and hoping the destination finds you?
Gary Good
Founder — LeaderLegacy