ENGAGING THOUGHT
I have a mid-size pick-up truck that does everything I need it to do. My son calls it a "girlie" truck because it isn't four-wheel drive, isn't full-size, and doesn't frighten small children. I try to tell him that it also doesn't have to stop at every gas station, nor does it have to make monthly stops at the bank. It drives forward when I want it to and it stops when I tell it to. It hauls the type of things I need to haul and as far as I'm aware, no one's life has been jeopardized.
I did notice several years ago, however, that it started developing a mind of its own when it came to steering - or more precisely, tracking. I found that as I headed down the road I could no longer just point it where I wanted to head and only use the steering wheel when I wanted to change direction. I found myself needing to hold the wheel just so it would stay straight. Then I noticed my tires starting to wear out in a funny pattern. That's right - my alignment was out. My little pick-up needed to be realigned.
Our DREAM-pursuit needs to be realigned once in a while also. We need to check with our Written Plan and take a look at our progress; hold the two next to each other to see if we're still tracking straight or if we're pulling to one side or another. When we get out-of-alignment we may still get to where we want to go (just like my truck does), but we're probably working harder than we need to and might be unnecessarily wearing out ourselves, our resources, or even those on our team.
Are we spending the amounts of time we had originally planned and allotted for the tasks of our DREAM-pursuit? Are we close to the time-frame and schedule, or are we way off? You might decide not to change anything about either of these - but at least you'll be aware of the discrepancy, right? How about the resources you've set aside? How are they holding up? Are you spending your energy or finances at the right pace and in the places?
Taking the time to check our alignment along the way gives us the freedom to keep traveling down the road in pursuit of God's DREAM for our life and enjoying the trip without having to worry that we're getting off-track or spending inordinate amounts of time or energy correcting.
I did notice several years ago, however, that it started developing a mind of its own when it came to steering - or more precisely, tracking. I found that as I headed down the road I could no longer just point it where I wanted to head and only use the steering wheel when I wanted to change direction. I found myself needing to hold the wheel just so it would stay straight. Then I noticed my tires starting to wear out in a funny pattern. That's right - my alignment was out. My little pick-up needed to be realigned.
Our DREAM-pursuit needs to be realigned once in a while also. We need to check with our Written Plan and take a look at our progress; hold the two next to each other to see if we're still tracking straight or if we're pulling to one side or another. When we get out-of-alignment we may still get to where we want to go (just like my truck does), but we're probably working harder than we need to and might be unnecessarily wearing out ourselves, our resources, or even those on our team.
Are we spending the amounts of time we had originally planned and allotted for the tasks of our DREAM-pursuit? Are we close to the time-frame and schedule, or are we way off? You might decide not to change anything about either of these - but at least you'll be aware of the discrepancy, right? How about the resources you've set aside? How are they holding up? Are you spending your energy or finances at the right pace and in the places?
Taking the time to check our alignment along the way gives us the freedom to keep traveling down the road in pursuit of God's DREAM for our life and enjoying the trip without having to worry that we're getting off-track or spending inordinate amounts of time or energy correcting.
ACTION STEP
You'll want your Written Plan handy for today's ACTION STEP (probably also your journal entries from Days 44 and 45).
Now that you've got some practical experiences about what pursuing your specific DREAM will look like, rewrite your Written Plan including a few of the different changes you've considered or that your stakeholders have suggested. You're not committing to this new Written Plan yet, so feel free to experiment with it, perhaps even write out a couple different versions.
Now that you've got some practical experiences about what pursuing your specific DREAM will look like, rewrite your Written Plan including a few of the different changes you've considered or that your stakeholders have suggested. You're not committing to this new Written Plan yet, so feel free to experiment with it, perhaps even write out a couple different versions.
Tomorrow we'll give our proposed changes a chance to simmer before we throw them into the mix.
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