Are you knowing where you’re going?

No wind is favourable to the sailor who hasn’t set their sails for the direction they want to navigate, and the purpose of their voyage.

Over the years sailing has taught me so much about business. Due to some injuries and other immediate priorities, I don’t sail as much as I used to but hopefully will get back into it again soon. 

In sailing, there are terms like tacks, wind shifts, setbacks, lifts, bumps, doldrums, currents, clear wind, flukey winds, time to hold course and time to alter course and time to read the extremely important messages from your tell tales. 

All these same principles apply directly to business. 

There was one trip I took to sail from Lake Macquarie to Broken Bay. About two hours in, we hit a terrible squall and no matter how hard we tried to move forward and gain ground we could not beat it. On a port tack, we would gain about 3 nautical miles. Then on the starboard tack, we would go backwards 4 nautical miles! It was a hopeless cause for that day. We ended up having to sail back with the strong wind behind us to our original port but we sailed back in a third of the time because now the wind was favourable. A couple of days later, on the same course, it was plain sailing as the wind was favourable now in the opposite direction it had been a few days before and this time it was favourable to our course. A record time was set between the launch and destination on the second attempt. 

In business, we set our sails only for this "tack”, but this tack is contributing to our overall destination. There will soon be another tack we will have to adjust our boat to, for us to reach our destination. It is a matter of constant adjustment, constant awareness and constantly reading the current conditions.

It is NEVER “set and forget”.

Do you have a clear destination for your business? Do you know what tack you should be on now? Do you know how to read the winds of change in your market and then be ready to take the new tack at the right time to keep your advantage and stay ahead of the fleet? 

Do you know in your business when to, as my skipper used to say, “look lively, think heavy, sit on the rail, move a little forward, move a little back, trim up, trim down, hard in, let the sheet out, duck, hold course and be ready, tension the sheet, raise or lower the boom, tighten the cunningham, make the sheet taught, reef the sail, jibe and enjoy the ride"? 

Listening and watching the conditions is a constant in sailing just like in business. Where is the next wind of change and how can I adjust myself and my boat to take full advantage of it? 

If you are having difficulty in any part of your business, staying ignorant of what to do next will never be an advantage. You need your crew, your team and your navigator and a statistician.  You need to be aware of your current conditions as much as your overall desired direction. With alertness to both positions, you will do well in the race. 

You are the skipper, for sure, but your team help you place well in the race. Even if you are sailing solo, you still have a crew. It is just automated, mechanical and off-deck supplying critical information, support and encouragement and updating you with all you need to know about what is coming up for you beyond your horizon. 

Coaching is support for success. You are still in control but now you have the right support you need for success. 

I have a t-shirt for business and on it, I have printed down the front:

C - Change                    Are you ready for something to change?

O - Open                       Are you ready to open your mind to some new paradigms?

A - Accountability       Are you ready to be accountable to some who will stand with you?

C - Courage                  Courage is not the absence of fear it is the decision to face it. 

H - Honesty                  Are you ready, to be honest, and face what needs to be faced now and next?

I love working with “people of passion”! Ones who are ready to make a living and a difference. Are you that person? If you think you are, I would love to have a completely obligation-free conversation. I will send you 7 questions. We generally allow some time for you to gather your thoughts and prepare some responses then have a conversation together about a week later then see whether it is your time to redefine direction and destination. 

The future we embrace will be directly connected to the vision we carry and our perceived ability to be able to reach our goals successfully. Coaching helps in every part of this journey.  

Please reach out and “Planalife you want to live in through a Business on Purpose™”. 

Have a great week… Cheers Ian