A Map without a Compass

Alice: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”

Cheshire Cat: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”

Alice: “I don’t much care where.”

Cheshire Cat: “Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.”

– Alice in Wonderland

Accountability is a superpower.

Most of us spend the majority of our lives being comfortably competent. I once heard a non-time waster say that “Time doesn’t run out…it slips away”. That the “golden years” were a scam created to make people feel better about trading their lives for someone else’s dreams. Lack of ambition blinds you to reality.

Uncomfortable truth vs comfortable lie.

Anyway…we’re at the “New Year New Me” annual pitstop.

This is where we all promise that these next 12 months will be the moment in our story where we turn things around. Unapologetically no more waiting for permission. Some may find themselves arguing their case in front of God and Father Time. Begging forgiveness for squandering the gift of life. Promising that they will figure out what their gift is and use it to provide value and service to the world.

Don’t worry, I’m right here next to you.

Right now, I’m Alice talking to the Cheshire Cat.

I’m moving, sure, but movement is pointless without direction.

A map without a compass.

Oath breakers…the lot of us. Now while I’ve never made a new year’s resolution, I’ve certainly broken promises to myself in the past. More than I care to remember…fully equipped with a bottomless barrel of excuses.

I don’t think mid-life crisis’ actually exist. I think what happens is: You wake up one day and you hear Henry Thoreau’s voice whispering in your head “…most men lead lives of quiet desperation” . It’s a “WTF” kind of moment. That we’ve been going through the motions in a state of cope. Refusing to accept that we’re not where we thought we’d be at this stage of our lives simply because we refused to keep the promises we made to our future selves.

While Henry’s reminding us to get our shit together, Cousin Cope is telling us that we can start tomorrow. Problem is we’ve been starting tomorrow for what seems like forever. I feel that some of us may actually want to face consecutive failures when we muster the courage to have a crack at something. That way quitting feels justified. Around about now is when some life guru drops a one liner like “Failure is not an option”.

But in the words of one of the great modern-day philosophers Chael P. Sonnen:

“They’ll tell you that failure is not an option. That is ridiculous. Failure is always an option but it’s a choice ”

Being comfortably competent is a form of failure.

It’s not about exceeding expectations because expectations are set by standards. It’s about living to a standard you decide.

Standard=Failure=Choice.

Accountability is indeed a superpower.

I don’t know what the next 12 months is going to bring.

Earlier this year I made the decision to finally stop being comfortably competent and actually have a crack at pursuing a goal I’ve had for a while. Writing is a part of it. It’s been slower than I’d like and I’ve already quit 1000 times. I have zero idea if I’m making progress, but it sure beats standing still.

Maybe that’s why Alice kept walking.

Because the compass is something we discover while moving…trying and walking long enough to see which direction feels right.

Whatever it is right?

Because the only standards that should matter are the ones we set for ourselves.

Build a business….be a better partner…better friend….the metrics of success will be measured in our heads. In the promises we keep to ourselves. I promised I would become a master storyteller. Believe it or not I actually said those words out loud when I decided to build Up a Tier.

That writing would be my base camp to polish my thoughts and improve my creativity. I’m far from where I need to be, but I haven’t stopped moving. Slower than I wanted but it’s a promise I’ve managed to keep.

Alice: “…so long as I get somewhere.”

Cheshire Cat: “Oh you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.”

A map without a compass is better than the alternative. Walk long enough and we’ll eventually get somewhere.

What if we don’t like it when we get there?

Keep walking until we get somewhere we do.