Before the great explorers of old set out on their journeys they would always draw a map of the territories they were about to enter: where was the food and drinking 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 are a little bit like this. Nobody can predict what will happen tomorrow, let alone a year from now. We have all become explorers.
And like those great explorers of old, we will succeed better if we have a sketch map to take with us.
In our case, the map we need is not a map of the outer physical world but rather a map of our inner emotional world: a reminder of the things that will keep us grounded, focused, inspired, and aligned around the priorities that matter most to us, no matter what happens around us.
The final chapter of Inner Leadership shows us how to draw this map uniquely for ourselves.
It does this by pulling together the key elements of everything we 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 will contribute to you living a worthwhile life — and what actions you are taking to achieve that
- Key facts and quotes that inspire you to move forward
- The people who are essential to achieving your vision, and what they need in order to feel motivated and inspired
- How you will keep yourself centred, grounded, and connected with your priorities as you move forward
By mapping these key landmarks before you set out, you give yourself something to refer to when you get lost — a tool that enables you to quickly find yourself and realign yourself and move forward again in the right direction.
The workbook also provides a simple template that you can use to record your answers: one place to refer to when you need to consult your map.
And of course, like those great explorers of old, you can always update and add to your map as you move forward.
By creating your own customised inspiration map you can guide yourself through a time of change.
This is another way to become antifragile.
Do you have a clear map of what motivates you and inspires you and how you can best apply that in your life? Would it be useful to create one?
Adapted from Inner Leadership: a framework and a set of tools for building inspiration in times of change.
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(And remember: you can’t learn to swim just by reading about swimming, you also need to do the practice.)
Photo By Public Record Office of Northern Ireland via StockPholio.net