I have always had a good sense of direction. I remember when I was starting to drive I would get lost but quickly would get back on track.

I remember on many occasions in my life where stressful situations made me easily lose my sense of direction and I want to share a period in my life that helped me with keeping my focus for my future:

Military

While being in the Army I remember occasions where I lost my sense of direction especially during night exercises. Working under the moon’s light made it a bit difficult sometimes to get around and it would be easy to for anyone to get lost.  I got lost on multiple occasions. The funniest one was when I was in basic training and we were moving through the woods in Fort Knox, KY. At one point I hit a rock or piece of wood that made me trip and lose the silhouette of the person in front of me. It was so dark that you could hardly see a few inches. Once I looked back up, I could not see where the rest of the Squad went.

I remember I stood still until they realized that the rest of the squad went missing. When I saw Drill Sergeant Vanier (a name I will never forget, Army Ranger, Pathfinder, and Special Forces veteran) come to me and ask me what went wrongin his not so friendly tone), I explained and got ready to pay for it later. For some reason my smart ass remarks made Drill Sergeant Vanier laugh in the inside but had me on his radar as one of the his list of people he enjouyed to “smoke” (when you are punished in the military with physical exercise). Overall I learned a lot from Drill Sergeant Vanier and he surely had fun making me sweat for the smallest of reasons. Although I did trip, DS Vanier decided to punish the person in front of me for not realizing that the rest of his team had followed his instructions of stopping when losing your sense of directions. I also felt guilty and volunteered to participate in being punished to give support to my buddy.

Take responsibility for those that are behind you

Although I felt terrible for my buddy being punished for something that was my fault (since I tripped), I understood DS Vanier’s message of always making sure you take care of those that are behind you and following you. If you don’t, eventually you might lose your followers and people that are key to your team.

Make Sure you are headed in the right path.

I learned that evening that every time you lose your sense of direction, you need to stop and identify where you are standing.

When there is Darkness ask for help

Sometimes there is darkness and it is very difficult to focus on what approach we all need to take. When I stopped, I had the opportunity for DS Vanier and the rest of the Cadre to come over and assist us in getting back on track. If you’re business is not doing well ask for help from peers and customers or join a group like KTC where problems and issues can be discussed for a resolution.

If there are personal issues you need to deal with, try to seek help from your family members or those that are closest to you.

Every time I have a public issue that I want addressed, I try communicating with the parties involved. If I am ignored by them then I write on this blog and seek your thoughts and feedback on how to better approach it.

Make sure you don’t break down your footwear headed in the wrong path.

I see many individuals that are on the wrong path and they are wasting their energy walking towards a huge cliff. Some of them have had people give them great advice but since they wore down a pair of sneakers, they think they know everything.

In life you will wear many types of footwear sneakers, boots, sandals, dress shoes, and many others. You will wear many down and you will buy new ones. Just make sure that every time you wear your footwear down you:

• Learning something new
• Help someone out
• Exercise
• Having Fun
• Working towards growing as a person

There are many paths to take and some will wear your footwear out without any return on knowledge. Stand still for a moment and take a 360 view of where you are standing.

Will the next steps you take be productive and worth wearing out your footwear?