Do You Know Where You Are Going?

Almost every one I know, at some time or another, has told me about their goals. Sometimes they are long-term life goals, sometimes they are only the things they want to get done that day or that week. As much as we are all told that we should establish our goals, few of us can clearly articulate what we want to be “when we grow up.”

Whenever I speak on the topic of goals I am reminded of the story of “Alice and Wonderland.” Alice is walking through Wonderland and she comes to an intersection in the road. She is standing there all befuddled.

The Cheshire Cat looks down from the tree above and says, “My dear, what’s the problem?”

“There are so many roads to choose from. I don’t know which way to go,” she replies.

“Where are you going?” asks the Cheshire Cat.

“I have no idea,” says Alice.

“Take any road you want,” the Cat wisely answers. “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there!”

Whether it is in our personal life or in business, we need to know where we are going. If we don’t establish clear goals, we will take an untold number of detours and side trips, wasting resources that are already in short supply.

I often share this story with people I know. A monk is traveling along a snow-covered road. As he enters a forest, a soldiers steps out and demands of the monk:

• “Who are you?”
• “Where are you going?”
• “Why do you want to go there?”

The monk pauses as he thinks about this challenge. Then he says, “How much does the army pay you?” Not being used to being asked questions, instead of given answers, he hesitates for a moment and then says, “Two hundred a month.” The monk then takes the soldier to a new phase in his life that causes the soldier to think about his life in a new way, when he says, “I will pay you three hundred a month if you will meet me on this same road, at this same time, every day, and ask me those same questions.”

How many of you know who you are? Not what you do for a living such as, manager, accountant, salesperson, or what you do for others such as parent, spouse, but who YOU are. If you know who you are, it is easier to figure out where you are going, to know what your goals should be. But you must also know why are you going there.

If you have no valid purpose to achieve a goal, is the goal worth achieving.

Maybe we should have our own imaginary guard on our road of life who will force us to answer the three questions:

• “Who are you?”
• “Where are you going?”
• “Why do you want to go there?”