Let
me start by wishing all of you a very happy new year!
It
feels good at the beginning of the New Year because you get to start afresh.
It’s like you’ve hit the reset button and get to start anew. For most of us we
know where we’ve to get to: like we know we have to lose a few kilos, we might
want to write a book this year etc. That’s where we want to see ourselves. But
the question arises as to whether we are doing the right things as we work our way
up to get to our final destination?
A
couple of months ago, we were in Bangalore. Driving in that city is insane
especially when you’re managing traffic, making sure no one is too close to
scratch your car and keeping one eye on the GPS so that you don’t get lost! The
place where we had to get to was 30 minutes away. In the middle of a heavy
traffic junction, at crossroads, while I was looking at the GPS trying to
decide on which turn to take, someone calls me up right at that point! I lost
track of the GPS, we made a wrong turn and ultimately took us 45 minutes to
reach the same place!
You
see till the phone call came in, I was completely dependent on the GPS to get
me where I wanted to go. For the span of 2-3 minutes during the call and just
before the GPS came back on, I was completely clueless and uncertain about the
turn I had to take. I ended up making the wrong turn. As a result of my wrong
decision, it cost me time to get to the place I wanted to go.
When
we are unclear about what to do or in a place of uncertainty it can stop us
from getting where we want to go and if we are not careful we might never get
to where we wanted to go in the first place! Uncertainty has this way of
clouding us and making everything seem hazy.
In
his book, “The Next Generation Leader”, Andy Stanley writes, “I have learned
that my enemy is not uncertainty. It is not even my responsibility to remove
the uncertainty. It is my responsibility to bring clarity into the midst of the
uncertainty.”
So
as we head out into this New Year, with all the goals and resolutions in place,
here’s what we can try to do if we are at crossroads in our lives:
1.
Don’t hit the panic button.
Panic mode leads to frenzy! If we
hit the panic button then it’ll not only cloud our judgment but it’ll also
impair our ability to see things in the right perspective. So stay calm, it’s
not the end of the world!
2.
Talk to close people about fears.
This is probably one of the best
things to do at this point. Being able to open up and share how you are feeling
with someone however requires great courage and trustworthiness. It helps in easing
the pressure.
3.
Stay still and do not hurry into
making any decisions you will regret later.
One of the worst things to do is
to rush into making a decision at this point. Some do so because they don’t
want to handle the pressure. But doing so can lead us to making the wrong
decision and thereby regret.
4.
Enjoy the present moment.
We can get so consumed by what
can happen tomorrow that we miss the present. Look around at the things present
and learn to appreciate what’s already there. Not only does it relieve the
pressure but it also clears the mind and therefore helps in making better decisions.
