Knowing where you going makes the journey more purposeful.  Knowing what you want increases the chances of you getting it.McGoff talks about the present as AS IS.  and the future as TO BE.  If you are clear about your AS IS and your TO BE then the strategy that you develop to move from one to the other is more likely to succeed.

I believe this to be true.  When I know where I am going, life is much easier.  Taking the time to sit down and really figure it out is always worth the effort, time well spent.  With fuzzy AS IS’s or TO BE’s activity becomes fragmented and even at cross purposes.

If your future is going to include a new career for instance, it is important to know what you want to do… or is it??  A wise man once said “Find a place you want to live and then find a way to make a living there.” So maybe the TO BE needs to be defined differently… not as a new job but in a new place. At least three people in my life right now are facing these kinds of decisions.  Opportunity or Crisis.  It really is a choice.  With a cohesive approach and supportive people in your life the path becomes clear.  Once the intention is set, the course laid in then it is full steam ahead.  Set the intention well.  Know your AS IS and your To BE and watch the strategy emerge.

When everyone knows where you are now, where you want to be and how you are going to get there they become a cohesive force.  People move along side.  They are on the same course, in the same groove making aligned decisions and moving in the same direction.  The opposite of cohesion in fragmentation which can sap the energy from any initiative personal or otherwise.  I have experienced that countless times as I commit to the blog or to exercise or diet programs and then lose my focus.  energy is siphoned off to other projects or endeavors and the personal commitments and decisions lose their cohesive force.  Getting all parts of your body or all parts of your team aligned for the journey is important.  Enrolling friends and family in the AS IS and TO BE can be helpful but can also add stress especially when they become more committed to the TO BE then you are.

Cohesion is a great concept for talking about relationship.  Are you on the same path, riding parallel with aligned goals and values, alongside rather than behind or in front???  If you are then the strategies you develop will take you from your well-defined AS IS to the equally well-defined and yet flexible ( for me)  TO BE.

I hate when I have an ah ha moment when I am writing….  The heart and the head aligned to provide clear strategies for next steps.  Stay tuned.