ICEBERG AHEAD

What happens to you when you identify an obstacle in your passageway. For most people, the vulnerability light bulb on the dashboard in their head goes off which is immediately followed by an attempt to change direction. This change in direction is intended to save us from sure disaster and give us the opportunity to steer the ship back to its original course. Needless to say, we make a double effort to make these changes smooth, subtle, and hardly noticeable to those traveling with us.  

Recently, I was riding shotgun with my 15-year-old daughter as she works to accumulate enough hours to become a valid driver. We were driving down a reasonably trafficked road in a suburb near our house in Southern California. She elected to change lanes which at the time felt like we were avoiding a deer. The sudden change in direction reminded me that often in life we are required to pivot rather than turn on our blinker, check the mirrors and comfortably float to the neighboring lane.

Pivoting requires a fixed point. Think of a protractor, half of your body must be anchored and the other half agile. We create plans for all sorts of stuff: Study plans, exercise plans, college plans, retirement plans, vacation plans, financial plans, business plans, 3-year plans, 5-year plans, and finally plans to make more plans. Don’t get me wrong, plans are good. I believe planning is a way for us to place value on our daily sojourn. While plans are good, they are oftentimes impossible to execute as predetermined. A great plan should always include plenty of room for pivoting.

Pivoting almost always pushes us towards the events in life that are most memorable.

Pivoting requires three things:

Be anchored in who you are. Without an anchor, you will become part of somebody else’s plan.

Know where you are going. This is a life direction that is broad and exciting.

Be confident saying that you have no idea how you are going to get where you want to go.   Get comfortable in a world of uncertainty.