Using Your GPS to Navigate Turn By Turn to Your Future Goals

 

Visualize yourself sitting in your car. You want to go somewhere, anywhere just to get away. You know where you are currently (yes, sitting in your car in the driveway) but you don’t know where you want to go so you pull off and start driving, aimlessly. Now imagine your life and where you are currently. Maybe you are in a corporate job and you want to become an entrepreneur. Or maybe you’re a stay at home mom and you have aspirations of becoming a teacher. Whatever you aspire to be, if you don’t have a destination for the future you are going to wander aimlessly. 

Everyone uses some form of navigation systems when they are trying to get to a place that is unfamiliar to them. What are the questions that the GPS will ask? Where are you now? Where would you like to go? Then crickets, it goes silent. Anyone ever wonder why? Well, that’s because it’s waiting on you to move! Once you initiate the steps to move forward, the GPS will take you turn by turn to your destination. 

Let me give you an example of how this works: My son was in the 3rd grade and we had a conversation about his future. I asked him what all parents typically ask, what do you aspire to do when you get older? He looked at me all bright eyed with loads of enthusiasm and said, “I want to play basketball in the NBA!” WOW, that’s a big audacious goal I told him with just as much enthusiasm.

I pulled out a yellow note pad and said let’s create your road map to get there. Where are you now? 3rd grade. We drew a picture of him at the bottom of the page as a 3rd grader. Where do you want to go? NBA, playing for Miami Heat! We drew a picture of a basketball star at the top of the page, named it after him and drew a sun for the sunny weather down in Florida. Then we took a look at the blank space  in the center of the page. I said, so son, what do you think we need to do now? He said, “I don’t know”.

“Well, let’s think about this, what does it take to be in the NBA? Do they have any prerequisites for you to play in the league?” I asked. He thought about it and said, yes, you have to get drafted from college. AH! Yes, son, you do! Right under his stick man basketball star, we drew a line pointing downwards that said COLLEGE. I thought, wow, college, do you have any aspirations to go to a specific college? He said, yes, I want to go to Louisville. Well, what does it take to get into college? He said, I have to graduate from high school with good grades. 

We continued this exercise to get him all the way to where he was in the third grade and the necessary requirements of school and basketball. We talked through all of the prerequisites  and necessary sacrifices that he would have to make in order to land at his final destination. While this exercise may seem very elementary and fitting for a third grader with big goals and dreams. It’s also the same steps that any person who has a big audacious goal should follow.

I tell my mentees and children the same old adage that many have used before. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! Understanding that where you currently are in life and taking the necessary turn by turn directions will ultimately put you in a position to successfully accomplish your goals. While there will be “roadblocks” and “detours” along the way, with proper planning and a clear focus on where you are headed, these will be viewed as minor setbacks. The road will become clearer as you start to turn the corner on each of your smaller goals. 

While navigating your personal life isn’t nearly as easy as your car. The idea is that you will have a clear visual of where you are and where you are headed. Remaining focused on your purpose will become exciting as you see your destination and goals become a reality.

Ebony Austin is presenting the Association for Women in Communications March Know To Grow professional development webinar. Learn more and register here. 

 

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About the Author

A native of Brooklyn NY, Ebony moved to Greenville and completed her senior year of high school at Greenville Senior High. She attended Benedict College in Columbia, SC, received her Associates Degree in Criminal Justice from Greenville Technical College and completed her Bachelors in Business Administration from Southern Wesleyan University. 

Ebony’s career path was certainly not a traditional one. Having worked in various industries, Ebony’s career ranges from Government, Manufacturing, Real Estate, Accounting, Construction, Entrepreneurship and Chamber of Commerce. Most recently Ebony has taken on the role as the Chief Operating Officer for her family owned and operated business Cassy Electric. Cassy Electric, LLC is 100% woman – minority- owned small business that specializes in residential, commercial and industrial electrical services. 

Ebony has served in various leadership roles throughout the community serving on a number of non-profit boards. Her most recent service includes; Board of Directors for Just For Today Women’s Recovery, Leadership Council for Walker Legacy Greenville, Junior Achievement volunteer, YMCA Caine Halter basketball coach and East North Street Academy PTA Board of Directors. Ebony is a graduate of Clemson University’s Leadership Institute, Leadership Greenville Class 46, and the 2020 Greenville Chamber Minority Business Accelerator Cohort. 

Ebony has a passion for Christ and family. She is the proud mother of 4 children that she absolutely adores. She enjoys spending her free time with her family, close friends and traveling.