There is a Map of Life that lies inside of us. Of fates and destinies, a little voice. Often, we ignore an instinctive urge to step out of our daily, comfortable routine to explore a change. We shrug it off with the promise that one day, we’ll come back and revisit it, with a fresh perspective.
Maybe we will. Maybe that old sweater will come in useful. Perhaps even that old pair of sneakers, those slim ties, those diskettes, cassettes, and mood stone magnets. What about that cluster of lanyards gathering mould, hanging next to the stack of namecards from a bunch of folks you were planning to call last year? Bah.
DO THIS FIRST:
You need 30 minutes of uninterrupted self-search time for such an exercise. I like the beach when the tide is rising since the occasional crashing sort of juggles a reset. Bring along a sheet from a drawing block, you know, one of those you used for your art class, and fold it equally in 2 steps. In each square, write in each corner S,W,O,T. I think you get the drift. Go fill it up over a week. Feel free to append, amend or delete. You are doing this SWOT of your life, to get bearings on direction.
“Journey deep within yourself and discover answers that no one in the world can give you.” Reflect on what you have responded, and Refine what you want out from each action. This will take a week, or more, but right now, the time taken to get this done, is immaterial. Getting it complete and well hammered thoroughly, is priority.
Scribble, sketch or eke out salient points in each category [same side of paper please] from your heart, apply those comments to your life, and those of your loved ones.
DO THIS NEXT:
Once you know [or at least think you do] know yourself, this old-styled methodology ALSO works for any business idea, with a tweak to the paragraph headings :
- Create [service differentiation]
- Model [tech and/or device]
- Test [process and execution]
- Presentation [packaging and marketing]
You want to germinate an idea beyond the sheet of paper, to something more tangible you can carry with you in pocket or handbag, whip out and scribble. And yes, it WILL not fester if you keep at it, and like wine, will MATURE to a mellow taste that smells [oops, don’t go there] promising enough to SHARE with friends and family, and a few good BFFs, to hone down and highly likely, form a team to run it.
Start in small, simple steps to get organised>scrub with a brush of scepticism> toward a comfortable checklist>fill with commentary from naysaers and fans>seek the holistic compromise to fulfil your dreams>while fulfilling theirs.
Social Experiment 72 is about sharing stories over a BBQ. To check if the black faces are indeed from the soot, and not from hearing you hog the conversation , but that is another event altogether.
In case you haven’t figured it yet, this chapter is about starting a new business perspective. Ever so often, we are in conflict with our priorities in money, management style, personal values, and our family needs. That will never go away.
DO WHAT AGAIN?
Not everyone is deemed qualified to share some their experiences, snippets of those little wisdoms people learnt the hard way, and hopefully, you won’t need to. Let’s face it, it’s one thing to blow bubbles about those wonderful achievements, but downright depressing to have to put up with other people’s failures or doomsday stories, unless…
my philosophy is a simple one:
truly enjoy what you do for a living, and you won’t have to work the rest of your life.
DO THAT AGAIN:
Go. Go get your LifeMap done, synchronize it with your immediate goals, get set for your shot at life, covered in warm fuzzy feelgoods. It often starts like that.
NIRVANA : clear conscience. independent. secure. focussed. happy.