Before the great explorers of old set out on their journeys they would always draw a map of what they knew about the territory they were about to enter: where was the food and the drinkable water? Where were the deserts and the swamps, the helpful people and the dangerous ones? Even a sketch map was better than no map at all.
These times of change that we are living through mean that we are all explorers now. Nobody can predict what will happen tomorrow, let alone in a year’s time. Covid-19 has taught us that.
So we will succeed better if, like those explorers, we prepare a map to take with us.
In our case, the map we need is not a map of the outer physical world but of our own inner world: the sources of inspiration that will keep us grounded, focused, motivated and aligned, no matter what might happen around us.
The final chapter of Inner Leadership shows you how to draw this map uniquely for yourself, by pulling together the key features of everything you have explored in the book:
- What you are working to create: your inspiring vision
- Why this matters to you — your purpose
- How you are going to make this journey — your values
- How this contributes to your living a worthwhile life — and what you will do each day, week, or month to achieve that
- Facts and quotes that inspire you and draw you forward
- The people who are essential to achieving your vision, and what they need to stay motivated
- How you will keep yourself centred, grounded, and connected with your priorities as you move forward
The workbook even provides a template that you can fill out.
By mapping these key landmarks before you set out, you give yourself something to refer to if you get lost — a tool that you can quickly use to reorient and realign yourself, no matter what might happen.
This makes you antifragile. And, like the explorers of old, you can then update and add to your map as you move forward.
Do you have a clear map of what most grounds and inspires you? Would it be useful to create one? What else are you going to use to guide you through the coming years?
Adapted from Inner Leadership: a framework and a set of tools for building inspiration in times of change.
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Map image from the Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile, Captain J.H. Speke, 1863