Who can you ask for directions?

Have you ever lost your way? You might be heading to one place but might miss a turn and drive around in circles. There’s the GPS, you might say. Just follow the GPS! Recently, I went to a meeting in a large building situated centrally in a big city. The GPS insisted that the building was close by but the driver kept driving around the same area, unable to locate it. Eventually, I asked the driver to stop, stepped out, asked a few people and made my way to the building which happened to be set slightly off the main road. The GPS was right but I still needed to ask for help in finding the exact location.

In life, I trust my ‘inner GPS’ above every other source and it has never failed me. A few times, though, it has pointed me in the right direction but I still needed help to clarify the exact route. These combined— trusting your inner GPS and asking the right person for direction—are essential to get where you want to be in life.

Unfortunately, many ignore their inner GPS because they never pause to listen to themselves. They ‘float along’, unaware—or perhaps unable to accept—that it is they who are responsible for steering their life, not someone else. If you find yourself blaming someone else for shaping your life in ways that don’t serve you well, it is time to recognize that you are free to take control of your life and steer it in the direction you want. No one can or will know what is best for you as well as you do.

Take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame. – Erica Jong

Being accountable to yourself is a responsibility you may find hard to take on. It is easier to ‘settle’ for something familiar even if it is not fulfilling. It is even easier to ask the wrong person for direction because they happen to be part of your immediate circle and then live your life blaming them for where you are.

If you want to become an entrepreneur, asking someone in a desk job for guidance, however brilliant they might be at it, will not take you there because they do not have the experience of being an entrepreneur and are not qualified to provide advice in that area. Would you go to an architect when you are sick? You’d approach a doctor. You’d go to an architect if you want to build a house, not a lawyer.

Keep this in mind the next time you need to ask for direction in life. Listen to your inner GPS—yes, you have one—and never hesitate to ask for help when you need it. However, think hard before you turn to someone for guidance. Do they have experience in the field you want to explore? Have they had varied experiences in life or have they stagnated in the same environment for decades? Have they taken significant risks in life and emerged triumphant? If you can’t find an appropriate person to guide you, ask someone who has your best interests at heart. They will help you find an appropriate adviser rather than providing meaningless guidance that leads nowhere.

Getting appropriate counsel from the right source is like switching on a brighter light to energize your inner GPS. It already knows the general route but needs guidance in finding the exact location of the path you seek but keep missing. With the right assistance, it can easily lead you to that path even if you were unable to locate it initially because it was set some distance off the main road, away from where you kept looking.