Saturday 11 April 2015

With the Benefit of Hindsight...

How did we get here...?

The photo above was taken on Saturday 4th October 1986, outside the Church in Merevale Hall, Warwickshire...

As you can see - we had just got married. We chose fancy dress as the "theme" with me dressed as a Penguin and Lynn going as a Shuttlecock...

I remember travelling in the Rolls Royce a few minutes later on the way to the reception - it was the only time during the day that we would be alone - and we wondered where we'd be in 25 years time...
Two things have happened...
  1. We have had and continue to have an amazing journey...
  2. It's a lot better and brighter than we expected...
Looking back over the last 28 years - it is easy to understand the journey; the key opportunities, decisions and forks in the road are obvious looking back...
When we started the journey we didn't have the same clarity - it all seemed so uncertain, scary and distant...
And here is the challenge with planning and setting goals - when we start out we don't know what the real possibilities are or have any real ideas about the opportunities that will become available to us...
"We don't know what we don't know...

Lesson 1 - there a multitude of possible outcomes...

The future cannot be predicted with any certainty; the further out we look the less accurate our predictions will be.
As we experience our journey there will be opportunities, decisions and situations that are either imposed upon us or that we seek out and create; how we respond to them affects our trajectory, maybe only slightly at the time, but the compound effect of a minor shift in direction at the beginning can lead to a huge difference at the end..
"Otherwise known as "The Butterfly Effect"...

Lesson 2 - we make mistakes; or do we...?

With the benefit of hindsight we can see where we went wrong - and of course where we got it right too...

We can plot our course in hindsight, the key decisions, relationships and turning points; they all conspire to lead us to our current position. 

If we are happy with our current position and course then nothing was a mistake; there may have been a few lessons but whether good, seemingly bad or indifferent, every dot has joined to bring us to where we are now...

As we look back we can see the better alternatives - the GREEN DOTS - on the journey, that we "should" have taken, but these are not points of regret, just points of learning; sometimes it takes longer to get the lesson...
If we are not where we want to be, then remember that the journey is not over yet, and we all have the opportunity to make different, better or more informed choices as we go forward...

Lesson 3 - we can change at any time...

The real benefit of hindsight is the realisation that small changes result in big effects and that what we do today that may on the face of it seem insignificant, will have dramatic, amplified effects in our future...
There are an infinite number of paths we can take and an equally infinite number of outcomes, the responsibility for the outcome has to rest with us; as do the dots that we choose to join up on the journey...

A chance meeting, conversation or kind word to a stranger can be all it takes to change the path; this is why our behaviour, integrity and personality are so important, they define how we respond on a micro level that has a dramatic effect on the macro level over time...

Changing a behaviour, making a different decision, building or letting go of a relationship; all may not make sense in the here and now, but they will make sense in the future.
"You can have any outcome you want; just choose different dots to give you a different outcome..

Lesson 4 - we don't know what we are doing...

I see people with detailed plans, goals and visions; dream boards, vision boards and purpose statements; way too much detail in my opinion...
"We have to learn trust our instincts, intuition and gut...
Setting our future Intention is key - we need to know what the end destination looks like, however, what we can't predict is the path we will take to get there...
Years ago while on holiday in France we decided that we would move and live there - at the time we had two young children, big mortgage jobs and career all happening.
We had no idea "how" to get to France and build a life - the path we took included buying a business, living in Las Vegas, working in Luxembourg and writing 48 books - the result was we now live in the Moselle Valley in France just as we predicted...
We have to trust ourselves to make the right, if difficult choices. The dots we need to choose may not seem sensible or logical; they may actually take us further away from our destination in the short term; but in order to arrive we need to take the risk of trust...
We all have our own GPS system - call it instinct, intuition or the Law of Attraction, but we have to trust the guidance it gives us...
To use a GPS all we need to know are three things;
  1. Where are we now...
  2. Where do we want to go..
  3. When do we want to arrive...
Programme that into your car and you don't need to question the route, turns or detours it takes you on - you don't need a constant image of your destination on front of you, it's programmed in...
Once you choose your destination your subconscious mind will guide you and give you "instructions" - they will appear as opportunities, people and situations, they will appear as instinct, intuition and fear; but once you trust the instructions and are prepared to go on the journey - you'll arrive at your destination...
Your Intention should be long term, but your Attention should be short term, and in the here and now...

Long Term Intention + Short Term Attention = Results

"If you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting and set out on a truth-seeking journey, and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared – most of all – to face some very difficult realities about yourself... then truth will not be withheld from you...
Elizabeth Gilbert

About David Holland MBA - Underwater Welding Dip...

I work with Business Owners, Executives and their Teams to:
✔ Make more Money in their Business...
✔ Build Effective and Productive Teams...
✔ Work Less Hours and enjoy the Journey...
✔ Grow Sales, Profit and Cash...
✔ Achieve more than they think is possible...
To find out more about how I can help you, send me a connection request on LinkedIn, or send me a message if we are already connected

Next Business Growth Workshops;

UK - Friday 17th April ... ( 3 places left...)

Luxembourg - Friday 8th May... ( 5 places left...)
Click on the LINK to find out more and reserve your places...

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