Today I want to write about forests and trees. It’s a bit of a metaphor tied to the old idiom “you can’t see the forest for the trees.”
It is very common in business and life to have our heads down, focused on our activity and busyness. Some of us become so fixated that all we can see are the trees immediately around us, and we simply forget that we are in a forest. We lose context, and sometimes we can feel like we are losing some sanity.
A few weeks ago, a good friend and I spent the day in Tijuana, Mexico visiting families and friends we know there. We have been involved in supporting a community in Tijuana for a few years now, and from time to time we get to go and visit. They are beautiful people.
One thing that never ceases to amaze and sadden me is their inability to consider the hope of a good future. Most of the families we support down there are just trying to make it through the day. It is a very sad reality. A reality that is more pervasive in this world than most of us care to acknowledge.
When I leave that place, I go through a whole host of emotions, one of which is gratitude. Another is responsibility.
What event has you excited about the future? Do you have something on your calendar that keeps you looking forward?
A clear and compelling Vision for your business is one of the foundations we coach at Building Champions. The venerable author and speaker Jim Collins often points to the fact that great companies and great individuals have great Vision. They have made the time to write down where they see themselves going in the months and years to come.
Most people would agree with the idea of having a great Vision, but many struggle to get themselves out of the urgency of the day in order to create such a crucial plan. Somehow it just never makes the “gotta have it” category.
There is a time for thinking through and writing down a long-term vision for your life and for your business. Without such Vision, life can get murky. But there is also a time to lay in front of you some short-term goals.
Sometimes it is good to step back and commit yourself to something that you will do this week or even just today. There are many benefits to setting shorter term goals.
Here are a few reasons why you might choose to focus on a short-term goal:
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Last night I attended a meeting at my 11-year old’s charter school. The administrators had rallied as many teachers and parents as they could to tell us that our little school is on the ropes.
The financial realities of our community and our school district have made it very difficult for the school to stay alive. As I sat back and listened to their appeal, it struck me that we in the midst of a world where many are struggling just to eek out a living.
Then, the meeting took an odd turn.
Today is January 21, 2011. I keep looking at the numbers 2-0-1-1. When I was young, I assumed that by this time the earth would look more like the world of The Jetsons.
Now that I think about it, maybe we’re not far off. Facebook, blogging, smart phones, Tweets…these previously unknown phenomena have become commonplace in our culture. These are the means by which we now communicate.
Certainly, the existence of this very blog is representative of my own drinking of the Kool-Aid. But as each of these methods of communication continue to evolve, I have noticed one enormous problem: few people really listen.
