I was re-reading an old issue of Dan Kennedy’s NO BS info-marketing letter. And he talked about his over-arching goals of that guided him through his business.
Anyway I think I have a similar set of goals that I got really clear in about 2011. Before that they were a little more amorphous. I believe I have a plan in place to get me to those goals over the next few years.
Kennedy was reflecting how those goals became a beacon for him. An acid test for pursing each venture.
For some reason I was immediately transported back to The Dark Tower by Stephen King.
The books probably the second best piece of epic fiction ever written. The Gap Cycle by Stephen Donaldson is far and away the best (memo to HBO, make that next – Game Of Thrones looks like Twilight in comparison).
The Dark Tower is about Roland of Galead’s unrelenting quest to reach the reach the Dark Tower set in a ‘Post-Apocalytic Western.’ And it is as much about the sacrifices Roland makes in order to achieve this massive over-arching goal as it is about his successes (and failures).
The power of pursuing the Dark Tower is that it makes everything a simple decision – am I getting closer or further away?
Is this decision in my long term best interests?
This is the power of the right goal. The wrong goal however can leave you in a world of hurt.
The journey is important in so much as it turns you into the person you need to be to reach your goals. But if the end result is genuinely what you are after, then following those tangents can get you to your goal a different way. Perhaps an easier way.
I first heard the call of The Dark Tower in about grade 6 (so I was 11. I guess?). But I didn’t start Roland’s pursuit in earnest until my 20s. And it wasn’t until nearly a decade later that I figured out what my Dark Tower was.
Considering I spent until my late 20’s in lateral drift, trying to find answers and all the while accumulating skills finally hearing the call of Dark Tower has helped no end.
It wasn’t long after that I realised a whole new sense of direction.
The question I have for you, is do you know where you want to end up or are you more concerned with how you are going to get there?