Crossroads: Exploring Options
I wonder how many choices we make each day?
Breakfast and dress? Dress and then breakfast? No breakfast? Smart dress or casual? Car or walk? Coffee – large, medium, small, take-in, take-out?
Perhaps trivial choices, but what about those that warrant a little more consideration? We make choices at all stages of our lives and careers, in the positive times when we consider if we will remain on the same path or veer towards something new. And also when things have not worked out as planned.
How do we see crossroads and options in our lives? I seem to have spent a lot of time in airport lounges recently which has given me the luxury to consider how I view crossroads. There has been a lot of change in my life this year, professionally and personally, and I can reflect now on how I have dealt with this change. How did I choose to deal with the change? How did I respond to new possibilities, new choices, new pathways?
Your Choices
So, what about you? How do you consider the future? Perhaps a beautiful vista on the horizon, perhaps the next step, or perhaps an uncertain place best not to be explored? Do you see future possibilities as an amazing freedom or would you share, “I just want to know.”
Is this future world a place you frequently inhabit, contemplating what might be? Do you see yourself as a dreamer or a realist?
Where are you headed now? Have you a strong goal, a clear direction?
How do you feel about the paths and choices you take along the way? Do you run and skip along these paths with enthusiasm and confidence? Tiptoe tentatively? Reach out to a loved one to support you? Perhaps you like to follow a path which many before you have already enjoyed, the familiar? Or would you share you enjoy the liberation of creating your own route and prefer the thrill of the unknown?
And what about when you feel a U-turn is required? When a path you were following seems no longer realistic, when you wake up and the dream you were immersed in, and thought you were enjoying, disappears before you? Can you find there a possibility to learn? Can you view everything as a learning opportunity? Working with a large pharmaceutical company this week, many shared their different reactions when trials and projects, on which they may have been working for many months and years, are deemed by senior management to be no longer feasible. Differing reactions as you can imagine! And yes, choices are often forced upon us, they are out of our control, but it is important to be reminded that it is our responsibility for “how” we react.
Some thoughts on exploring options:
- Be reminded of your values. Consider how well the path is in line with your values and what is fundamentally important to you. No matter how shiny the new path is, if it does not fit with your deep-seated values, it’s unlikely to be a suitable option for you. Is now the time to consider what your values are?
- Talk it through. When you share your ideas with a close colleague, best friend, partner, coach, the nature of the choice will become clearer. They can help you gain more enthusiasm and confidence to follow this path. Equally, they may also be able to spot blind spots? Are there some choices in our careers, lives which we have not even considered as feasible? Trusted conversations can enable us to imaginate…
- Consider how far head and heart are aligned. If you know you often make impulsive decisions, actively consider all the pro’s and con’s of taking a certain path. Equally, if you have done lots of legwork and assessed all the permutations, then consider what does your gut say?
It’s easy to make up your mind; but convincing your heart is the hard part
- Take action. Make a choice, step forward and don’t be too fixated on a set choice.
- Look to the beautiful vistas of the future but enjoy the present too.
Happiness is not something you postpone for the future. It is something you design for the present. Jim Rohn.
Are you at a crossroads now? How will you respond?