Jun 9, 2015
I love auto racing. I used to dream of doing some cross-country rally racing back when I was in my early 20’s. I loved the complexity of it. With a rally race, it’s not like other types of auto racing where you’re on a track, you drive fast, turn left, drive fast, turn left, drive fast… and continue like this until you see someone waving that checkered flag.
If you’ve ever seen Cannonball Run, a movie from back in the 80’s, you know what a rally race is like. It’s a real race that happens every year. In Europe there are Rally races through towns and cities all the time.
In a rally race, you drive for days over long distances. You have to know where you’re ultimately going and your checkpoints along the way. I thought this was a great analogy for this episode…
Sometimes Lost is Good
Sometimes feeling lost is great. We must have down time - Sometimes our spirit our soul will force it upon us by causing us to feel “lost” or to remove our drive for a specific destination. Consider this a rest area in life. Don’t set up camp here, but but realize, you need a break from time to time. So, rest.
Sometimes we even need to just go out for a drive without a particular destination. Just go out, start driving and enjoying what’s right in front of us without being worried about where were going, if we’re on the right path to get there, whether we have enough gas, and if we’re making good time or not.
We need the mind clearing drives sometimes.
Why We Sometimes Feel Lost
Usually, at least for me, we feel “lost” because we’ve become distracted.
If you’ve ever been driving somewhere with someone and become so engaged in conversation, you completely miss your exit, you know what this is like.
When this happens, you have to first become aware of the fact that you missed your exit. Awareness of where you are at this moment. Then you have to figure out how to get back on track.
Sometimes you get so far off track, you actually have to pull over and stop while you get your barrings right, pull out a map and rechart your course.
In life, this could mean pulling over for a while… a vacation or just a day when you can get away from all the “traffic” in life… no distractions. You may even just set up an afternoon to go to beach and collect your thoughts, evaluate your destination and reassess the path you’ve chosen to take.
The last thing you should do is to try to keep driving while you pull out the map and figure out where you are and how you need to get back to where you were going. Doing this could cause a lot of issues for you and completely derail your journey.
Take the time to STOP… clear your mind.. and get back on track. STOP… that’s important.
Using a Navigator
Continuing with the “driving” analogy, you may want to consider bringing a navigator with you. Someone who will keep track of where you’re going at all times and alert you BEFORE you get off track.
A couple of ways you can do this is through a coach, accountability partner or even a mastermind group.
This is the purpose of these people in our lives. But, you have to make sure they know where you want to go and they know your plan on how to get there. We also have to make sure we give them the authority in our lives to give us direction. You can NOT argue with them and challenge everything they tell you.
In cross-country rally car races, there’s a driver and a navigator. The driver drives… watching what is right in front of them and making sure they don’t crash. The navigator looks further ahead to see if there are any detours on the horizon and get the driver ready to react to them.
Listen, if you’re just cruising along in life, you’re not racing towards a goal, you don’t need a navigator, but if you want to accomplish something amazing, you’re going to need to really stay focused on what you do well… driving the car.
At Least Use a Map or GPS
I understand if you’re “car” isn’t big enough to accommodate a navigator at this point. At the very least, use the tools which will let you know if you’re on track and where you need to go if you do get lost.
Your long and short term goals will do this for you.
Your long term goal is like the finish line in this rally race. It doesn’t mean this is the only race you’re run in your lifetime, but it’s the one you’re in right now.
Your short-term goals are where you need to go to get to the next gas station, or next check-point. Rally races usually last several days. This means you check in each night, the timer stops and you refuel, rest and recharge your body. You also make sure your map is still accurate.
Call to Action
Grab your map… designate a navigator (maybe you can navigate for them if they’ll navigate for you).
Know where you are today and where you need to be tonight, if you’re going to make it to the finish line in a few days/weeks/months or years.
If you’re lost now… PULL OVER AND STOP. Get your earrings together.
Do this today. Don’t wait… don’t keep driving aimlessly as you fiddle with your map and try to get re-reouted.