Words that caught us: W is for Wayfinding (Part 7)
Imagine
that a raging battle
Has
left you with only one means of escape –
Crossing
a thick and unfamiliar forest.
How
do you do it?
Here’s
a recap.
Wayfinding
is the art of assessing the situation,
Analyzing
the facts, and developing options,
For
moving from Point A to B,
Usually, through many unknown,
And unknowable Points.
The
first step, is to rise over our initial fear,
Of
the uncertainties ahead of us.
Fear,
as we saw in Part 1, is a narrative –
A
story we tell ourselves –
And the way to conquer it,
Is by changing what we say,
When we talk to ourselves.
But that is not all.
How
we think and feel in the moment,
Is
highly dependent on our self-awareness –
That
is, on the knowledge we have of our Jar;
What
is inside it,
And
the influences other Jars have on it.
The
second step, as we saw in Part 2,
Is therefore,
to relook at our Jar,
And ensure
that we have in it,
The
right Rocks, Pebbles and Sand.
This
exercise is, however, not as simple as it sounds.
In
the mouth of our Jar, stands guard,
Two mighty
foes preventing us
From
getting anything out, or in, the Jar.
As we
saw in Part 3, we can’t begin our Wayfinding,
Until
we overcome the drag of sunk costs,
And established
habits.
Once our narrative, and our Jar,
Are ready and in good order,
We can
now set out on our journey.
But
in which direction shall we head?
And
how shall we make the numerous choices,
That
we’ll inevitably have to make in our journey?
We
need some guiding stars.
Part 4 proposes that we use our values
To
set direction and guide our choices.
Ultimately,
it’s our values that will determine,
Where
we end up.
Now
we are off to the races!
We
need the wind on our wings,
And all the support we can muster,
To make good and quick progress, in our journey.
How
do we harness these?
The
answer, as we saw in Part 5,
Lies
in consistently, hunting the good stuff.
The
journey will be much easier and faster,
If we join and associate with others, on the same route.
Finally,
as we all know,
No
journey is without challenges and setbacks.
Some
of our plans will not pan out.
And,
despite all our efforts
At
achieving a perfect score,
We’ll
certainly make a few wrong turns.
How
will we survive these moments of struggle
And defeat?
We need
to be ready and strong,
And,
as we saw in Part 6, this is best done
By continuously
building personal resilience.
That’s
it.
That’s about all we need, to cross the forest.
5 key
elements in Wayfinding:
- Shift the narrative
- Tend to our Jar
- Choose our direction
- Hunt the good stuff
- Build our armour
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