Tips on a Fighting Chance in the World II
This series highlights tips ,advice, or quotes shared with my students who participate in my Emotional Intelligence classes or workshops.
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”
-Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland)
Recently in class we have been working on a series of art projects on the concept of self-awareness. One of their projects is to create a story about their past, present and future. Some of the students found it challenging to write about where they see themselves in the future. As I was working with them on this task, I used the example of the classic story of Alice in Wonderland – particularly this short exchange between Alice and The Cheshire Cat.
Alice: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
The Cheshire Cat: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”
Alice: “I don’t much care where.”
The Cheshire Cat: “Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.”
Alice: “…so long as I get somewhere.”
The Cheshire Cat: “Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.”
Why is direction important?
Where are you going? Until you can answer that question, you can’t say that any one route is better than another. Any road will get you to where you want to go. By not having a direction, not having a goal or knowing where you are going, is all the same. You are on a path that leads nowhere. You can never get “there”, never arrive anywhere, because you do not have a destination. Without a destination, without the ability to see oneself in the future, how can you plot a course to get "there"?
"How do I define my destination?"
A student asks inquisitively. The first step to answering this question is by creating a self-dictionary. Here we write out what words or traits do we use to define ourselves, how other's define us, and last what new traits do we want to integrate into our lives. We then begin to brainstorm some possible directions that are in alignment to our inner dictionary. We consider each direction and narrow the field down to just a few possibilities.
Once the path has been defined ,research, ask questions, find mentors and begin to take steps towards realizing the future you seek. . Even if the steps are small, strive to make progress, learn from the experience and revise your direction when necessary.
