"The Wake Doesn’t Drive the Boat"
I have always loved this quote and attribute it to Dr. Wayne Dyer. Whether he is the original author is unclear, but I appreciate the wisdom in the words.
It is January and the time of year that can offer a moment of stillness from the swells - the highs and the lows - of your journey. You have been in motion and perhaps cruising at full speed. Maybe you never throttled back at year-end and continue faithfully onward in pursuit of a destination on the horizon. But a new year offers new possibilities, and an opportunity to look back – to reflect on what went well and what went wrong as you anticipate the journey ahead.
Consider taking your hand off the throttle. Let the wake and the waves you created rock you gently as you consider all that you accomplished or failed to achieve. Maybe you had a fantastic year. Maybe you look back with regret or disappointment. Encouraged or discouraged by the wake, it can be tempting to blindly continue forward or to overcorrect your course.
A child staring at the wake might think it somehow propels the boat. But we know it is simply a temporary remnant of a longer journey. Your engines - your efforts - fueled by your motivations, and your faithful or not-so-faithful steering brought you to your current place. Think about what motivated you last year and whether you kept a faithful course? Are you where you intended? Were those motivations strong enough to propel you toward your goals? Which of your goals were fully realized? Which goals did you abandon, and which of those goals remain to be achieved?
Think about where you want to go. Are you headed in the direction of those goals, or do you need to chart a new course? What motivates you in pursuit of those goals? Will those motivations provide sufficient fuel for your engines and your efforts? That fuel and your steady hand in steering are what drive the boat.
Now chart your course and enjoy the journey ahead.
Mike
(Image Credit: Carrie Johnson on Pexels)