Your Vision

In an ideal world, every job that you have should be a meaningful step toward the vision that you have for yourself in the future. Where you work right now has the opportunity to be a career-defining place to work as long as your short-term and long-term trajectories are in alignment.

We’ll begin by focusing on this vision. This is where so many people struggle, often for two reasons:

• They don’t dream big enough, and severely underestimate what the future could hold for them.
• They aren’t clear enough about the vision so that it has a compelling, magnetic force that propels them toward it.

So, that’s the place where we’re going to start.

How did you get here?

No matter where you are right now, the journey you took, in hindsight, probably wasn’t what you would have predicted. But first, did you make that coffee? If not, grab one. Get your pen and paper and draw a line similar to the one in the following diagram.

This line represents the last ten years of your life. Plot significant events in your lifetime against this line. Don’t limit yourself to events in your career, such as landing a new job or getting a promotion. Instead, expand the boundaries out to touch the edges of your life. Include education, moving location, and significant events. Get it all in there. Once you’re done, take a step back and let it all sink in.

Many people significantly underestimate the number of things that can happen in a ten-year period. How do you feel about your achievements now that you’re looking back at them on ...