First step to success: Choose your direction

I have found there are six steps to our personal and business success. This success, in terms of my measurement – and I am not saying this is the only way or the right way, only how I have thought on these things – drives that good feeling inside about what and how we are doing in the game of life. These six are all important and interdependent. They are direction, technique, tempo, tools, altitude, and attitude. I began thinking on these many years ago and have built on them over time. The first part of my model was formulated as someone was speaking to me on a golf course. Oddly enough, picking a direction is key to anything we do in life. We have to know where we are going. At that time in my life, I was contemplating the how (technique) and at what speed (tempo). I thought those two items nailed how to align efforts in my business life. I thought that if someone had great technique blended with the right tempo, everything would fall into place. I was dead wrong.

In my thinking, I have found that the direction we choose is the basis for a successful or non-successful outcome. We must first select a course for anything we are doing. Where are we going in our business, or where are we trying to hit the golf ball? We then can determine how we are going to reach that point leveraging the right technique and tempo. Our direction can change, as we all know, and many times, it should change and improve. We should remain as flexible as possible while being fervent in our chosen path, course, or direction. For most of us, we are going in so many directions it feels like we are not making any decisions about our direction, but merely reacting to causes all day long. Many times, given life, is so hectic it can seem impossible to feel like we are the owner of our destination.

If this is where you are, take a deep breath, think about where you want to be over time, and choose that direction. Sometimes we must go to site A, before being able to arrive as site B. That is life, we must deal with this. I will discuss this concept in coming blogs where I will delve into altitude. For now, know that each day, we make decisions about our direction, and it is up to each of us to be accountable for those decisions. We should either alter our direction as needed or continue on our chosen path due to signs of success! This a very simple concept to grasp. On a golf course, I have seen great players with the right technique, tempo, tools, altitude, and attitude, but they lined themselves away from the target. Their direction was wrong. Wow, what a great shot, if they had aimed 2 degrees to the right. What is your direction? Are you pleased with it? Are you going in the right direction? If not, change it, you can… Go get it!

Edwin Miller
President & CEO

Edwin is a technology industry executive, board member, and an executive consultant. He has successfully grown and transformed both public and privately held companies organically and through acquisition across both domestic and international markets. Edwin has extensive experience in forming strong leadership teams, forming a diverse and motivated culture, and transforming both software and IT services businesses.