Back on Track – ElPropósito4 min de lectura

How many times do we have to find our way back?

How many times do we need to get back on track? Why does it matter to be clear about the path ahead? What pulls us off it? I want to open with these questions because this may be one of the hardest topics to face, personally and professionally. I know what it is to drift from my purpose and my path, to stray from my strategy and my short, medium and long-term plans. I also know what it is to get distracted and turn my attention to trivial things that, I am well aware, leave me with nothing. And still, there I am. I constantly see distracted teams and companies. I work with highly capable people who fight every day to stay firm on their objectives and goals, and many of them hire me precisely to get back on course, to find the path they lost. Some know the compass always points north. Others simply ask me to help them find the compass. Whatever the case, we have to be aware that along the way there will be shortcuts and side trails that look like a faster route and turn out to be nothing more than distractions.

Active breaks in the middle of the year matter, and we need them to recharge. Resting is no excuse for doing nothing. It means switching activities while staying active over time. We have to learn to tell rest from laziness, because laziness is often the mother of every lost path, heading or north. Rest, on the other hand, is a chance to reconnect with the knowledge that at some point we will get back on the road. Rest is a gift we absolutely must give ourselves. Sometimes I think the best gift we can give ourselves, an early Christmas present, is a break halfway through the year to reflect on what we have done well so far, what we have done poorly and what we can do better to close the year with real enthusiasm and the conviction that we can achieve what we set out to do. For a break to be productive, it needs a moment of deep reflection that keeps us connected with our loved ones and, above all, reminds us the compass is still there. All we have to do is stand up again and keep going.

Getting back on a lost path is hard, and it is very easy to slide into laziness once we have lost our north. What makes the return so difficult is that distraction is an unproductive drain on our energy. In many teams, distraction shows up as an inability to look up and see that there is a strategy to follow. Day-to-day operations, however demanding, end up as a distraction that creates a false sense of productivity. Real productivity lies in following the path you have set, beyond the routine task. The daily work is like breakfast, lunch and dinner. We know we have to do it, and yet it is not everything. We also need exercise, a bit of discipline in what we eat, time to write down our thoughts and objectives for each day. That extra layer on top of the daily routine of any company, team or person is what keeps us on the path, and being on the path means moving forward in line with a purpose.

I truly admire the many people who, through exhaustion, fatigue or stress, always keep one eye on their strategy and their long term. They never let the short term undermine their path. They know the best path is the one that leads to their vision of the future. They refuse to be ruled by the daily grind and keep one eye fixed on the long-term objective and the other on the short term. It takes a great deal of discipline, organization and common sense to live free of needless worry while taking steady steps along the way. It takes courage to say no to the siren songs we know are life’s main distractions. It takes courage to hold the course and stay devoted to our objectives, and it takes even more courage to get back on a path we have lost.

Warm regards and all the best,

Rodrigo Baccaro

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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