The raft

A raft at sea is useless. It moves around aimlessly—back and forth—to nowhere in particular. One day it moves forward and the next it’s back where it started. There’s no sense of direction… and the tedious undulations make everything seem like hard work.

I’ve felt like that in parts of my life. I know others have, too. Hell, even some businesses function this way.

But what if there was a way to propel that raft? A way of using paddles, or better still, an engine? It’s no longer useless: you could plot a course, a point on the horizon. You could then focus on getting there with everything you’ve got.

That’s how things get done. How great businesses work. How great people succeed. They know where they’re heading (it doesn’t have to be precise, just aiming in the right direction is enough), and they’re excited, even fanatical, about getting there. They work on it every day, little by little, piece by piece.

If in 3 months you realise that you’re heading in the wrong direction, that’s okay. Times change, people change. You’ll need to adjust your course.

But at least you’re heading somewhere.