Where Is This Going?
Exploring the merits of setting self-originated goals & strategy for your business & life.
I’ll start by stating that the “this” (in where is “this” going?) can be anything. A new business, a new relationship, piece of art.
There are so many types of people in this world. Some are more predisposed to planning. While others are more free spirits, allowing the wind to take them to where they need to be, and figure it out from there — once they get there. Neither approach is better, they’re just different.
I am a hybrid. I both strategize, and allow myself to be in present in the moment to see where opportunities and the process will take me.
Strategos is the origin of the word strategy, rooted in Grecian heritage. The word comes from two separate words, stratos (meaning = army/spread out) and agos (meaning = leader/draw out or forth). Essentially a strategy is a plan to get done what you need to get done.
“The first step to having a plan is having a goal, “Michelle Edelman (CEO & Chief Strategy Officer, PETERMAYER)
Goals are fundamental to strategies because they inform and direct strategy. Once you understand what you want to accomplish — for work, personal or family, then you have the opportunity to decide where you want to go — your plan. But starting with a goal enhances your chances of success.
Critical to the concept of goal-setting and planning is YOU. You determine what you want to achieve, from an internally vs externally motivated place. To develop my plans, I often go near water, sometimes in a distant place, and let my spirit speak to me about what is best for me, allowing the next steps to flow onto me. Where do you need to go to allow goals for your life to come to you?
Your plan’s execution will take time. But the beauty is that YOU can affect the length of time. Today’s society has severely tainted the concept of time because everything can happen instantly, and from the palm of our hands. So patience is swiftly eroding when it comes to achieving business, relational and overall life success.
Time is a man-made construct, so make time work for you. YOU choose your timeline. Your timeline may be shorter or longer than colleagues. But, if you establish your goals, and your plan, nothing else should matter. Your “this” will get done when it’s supposed to get done.
But if you remember that nothing is built overnight, and that there is no such thing as an “overnight success,” you can achieve anything in your heart and spirit to achieve. Let’s go!
Sidenote: Going nowhere is a perfectly acceptable option too. Your choice of where you want to go, how far and how fast. Just remember you are in the driver’s seat of your life.
Olivia F. Scott is Assistant Professor of Advertising at Loyola University, Adjunct Marketing Professor at NYU, and Founder of Omerge Alliances Marketing Consultancy. Learn more at oliviafscott.com.
