About air travel, Jerry Seinfeld famously says, "And then you get on the plane. The pilot, of course, has to always come on the P.A. system. This guy is so excited about being a pilot, he cannot even stand himself: 'Well, I am going to take it up to about 20,000. And then I'm going to make a left by Pittsburgh. And then I'm gonna make a right by Chicago. And then I'm going to bring it down to 15,000.'"
"He gives you the whole route, all his moves. We are in the back going, 'Yeah, fine. You know. Just do whatever you gotta do. You know. Just end up where it says on the ticket, really.'"
I love that! And the people I coach know I love it because I ask that question all the time. What's the endgame here? Where are you really trying to go? What is on your ticket?
I asked my oldest this the other day when he was stalking around the kitchen, loudly strategizing arguments to be waged against one of his teachers. Something like, "She's has it all wrongwrongwrong and should take a few lessons from me because I'm so right and know everything!"
After more brooding and some wild gestures, and with me poking at him, his response to the ticket question was this:
"I want to be a food scientist. To get there:
- I've got to get a good grade in this piddly beginner-level food science class
- to raise my GPA
- so I can go to college
- to become a food scientist...because I love it."
That's what's on his ticket: Food Scientist. He knows what he wants and why he wants it. So the arguing over semantics and opinions -- thus enraging his teacher and possibly getting sent to the principal for a sassy mouth -- while immediately gratifying, might turn into a very long and costly layover, delaying arrival at his desired landing spot: Food Scientist.
He, like most of us, has to check his ticket often. Everyday life and its constant enticements and distractions make it easy to forget our intended destination -- the real reasons we're going to work/school/saving money/raising kids/working out in the first place.
My questions are: 1) Where do you want to go, and 2) Is what you are doing with your time/money/influence/energy getting you there? Maybe you want to be:
- debt free
- at your pre-pregnancy weight
- promoted to VP
- able to run five miles
- in a "grown-up" job
- at peace with your family
- (fill in the blank)
That's what you and I will both discover at Monday's free workshop at Transform U Fitness (see sidebar). By the end of the session, you will know with certainty what you want next for your life. You'll even outline and commit to taking the specific, do-able steps that will get you there.
It's going to be a great trip. :)
