Achieve Your Goals By Avoiding Traffic Jams
January 29, 2008
Yesterday, I was reading the book ‘Never Eat Alone‘, by Keith Ferrazzi. In this book, there is a lesson about adapting our goals that I like to share.
Keith is a marketer at heart; He became the youngest ever CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of Starwood Hotels and Resort (a Fortune 500 company). A few year later, he became CEO of YaYa Media.
He believed that marketing can and should direct all operational activities. Yet, throughout his career, he faced resistances from top management to let marketing play a bigger role in the running of the organization.
During his CMO tenur at Starwood Hotels and Resorts, he hit a low point in his career; his goal to restructure marketing globally was not supported by the new President then. He knew he wouldn’t be able to reach his goals at Starwood.
Keith knew he had to leave.
He decided the best way to make his dream come true is to become the CEO and run the company the way he believes it should be run. He reevaluated his dreams and wrote a 12-page mission statement comprising his key strengths and weaknesses. He wanted to become the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. However, the reality check turned out that Keith lack the qualifications to be CEO of any Fortune 500.
He consulted with his friends and advisors. One of them told Keith “you have to get over the prestige of working for a Fortune 500 company. If you want to be CEO, you have to find a company that you can grow with.”
That was exactly the advice that Keith needed. With that in mind, Keith adjusted his goals, and set out an action plan to network with the relevant people in the industry - people not from Fortune 500. Of the connections he made, it included people from YaYa Media. Months later, an opportunity in YaYa Media opened up for the CEO position and he took it - realizing his dream of bringing his marketing experience into the CEO position.
PERSIST ON YOUR DREAMS, BUT DON’T GET STUCK IN TRAFFIC JAMS
I often talk about setting goals and living your passion. I have to admit that this is not an easy thing to do. More often than not, life does not turn out as we plan it to.
However, Keith’s story is a good lesson for us - even as we strive towards our dream in a persistent manner, we must be flexible to adapt our action plans to changing times and prevailing forces.
When we set goals, we do not concern ourselves with ‘how’ to make it happen. Along the way, when actions are taken, we get feedbacks and see actual progress. It’s times like these that we need to reevaluate our approach to our dreams. It’s not the same as giving up, it’s about adapting. I know, it’s a fine line to draw - it’s subtle but very important.
To illustrate my point, I like to share an analogy: Let’s say you are going out on a car trip to a park. When you set off from your house, you planned on taking the shortest route you know. But during the journey, you heard over the radio that there’s a traffic jam up ahead. At this moment, you can choose to stubbornly stick to your planned route or you can switch to another longer route without traffic jam. Chances are, it makes more sense to change your route, and you still get to your destination (the park). The traffic jam is something that you don’t control, and there’s no telling how long it is going to take.
It’s all about adapting to prevailing circumstances. There’s no point in fighting against circumstances that you don’t control. You’ll only end up in self-defeat and more disappointment.
Do you think Keith would have succeeded as quickly if he had stubbornly stuck to his dream to become CEO of a Fortune 500 company?
(Photo by voltage)
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Keith followed his gut and I doubt he’d have moved faster by staying in an uninspired setting. Each of us needs to make the move when we first know it’s not right for us. This knowing is a powerful message we often receive intuitively. And if we don’t follow it the first time, then our life circumstances often escalate to get our attention.
Your point on flexibility is right on as well. The key is to take action and then see what doors may open. Often we can improve on our intended destination by adapting to the new opportunities that we were once blind to.
Interesting observation Tom.
Can you elaborate on what do you mean by “life circumstances escalate”?
Ooooh, good one, Lawrence! I often talk about non-attachment to the outcome. We have to decide what’s more important - that life looks exactly according to our plans, or being fulfilled and happy. Fact is, life often creates something way better than what we could have imagined anyway.
Thanks for the reminder that our goals are an outline, not something set in stone.
Blessings,
Andrea
Hi Andrea,
Thanks for this wonderful quote “our goals are an outline, not something set in stone”.
Previously, I used to struggle with letting go of goals. I thought that adapting our goals is as good as giving up. Now, I know better.
Let what Tom said above, Keith would probably has halted if he had stayed in an uninspired environment. Better to adapt and move on than to be stuck in the rut.
I am currently reading Never Eat Alone book. I started it last week
Excellent article Lawrence. You are making me read this faster than planned 
Ha Gaetano,
Good choice. Please share your insights when you are done with the book.
Sure Lawrence, when I said life circumstances escalate I’m referring to this universal principle. What we focus on expands. So really it’s pretty much impossible to ignore an intuitive message. We may think that we aren’t focusing on it but we are at the very least subconsciously.
So in Keith’s situation if he would have ignored those signs and continued on, his more negative life circumstances regarding his work would have gradually increased until he would have been forced to make a decision. Or perhaps even worse someone else may have made a decision that he wouldn’t have liked.
I’m reminded of a tough lesson I grudgingly learned from my sales management days. The first time you get even a whisper of thought that this sales person is not going to work out - let them go. In my experience, when we ignore those messages what the sales person does not do well just magnifies itself.
Making the bolder decision to walk away when something big doesn’t suit us isn’t quitting. It’s reaching for larger living.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful lesson Tom.
I must admit that I’m also learn to listen to my intuition a lot more. It’s what they call the “gut feel”.
Making the bolder decision to walk away when something big doesn’t suit us isn’t quitting. It’s reaching for larger living.
Wonderful phrase. Very apt. Sometimes in business, I have to let go of deals that doesn’t fit well so that resources can be better deployed to better opportunities. I guess it’s the same for life goals as well.
Excellent article Lawrence! This needed to be said.
Sometimes we don’t realize that not everything can be written in stone, especially the way to achieve our goals.
Yes indeed Zorka,
I’ve learned this realization only recently too.
This is a nice article, Lawrence. As a biologist by training, I often see business resembling Nature’s evolution: Adapt or go extinct. Maybe an organism can’t change its genes instantly, but behavior can change. If a squirrel is running along a yard, focused on a particular nut, but comes across another one, the squirrel will take the nut in its path. I don’t think that it’s always best to focus only on the low-hanging fruit, to continue the analogy, but it never hurts to take a look at it.
Wow Mike,
A perspective based on evolutionary theories. Are you a Darwin fan?
I never really thought of it this way, but hey, it applies and is very refreshing. Adapt to survive or to risk extinction…
Adapt to survive. That’s the way it is with the world changing so quickly.
Great post and folowing discussion.
Going along with Mike Mays:
I also am a biologist and have 1/2 Century involvement
in Agriculture.
I have always used the Farming analogy in
my business consulting sessions.
You and your readers may enjoy listening to past Episodes
of our Live Talk Show, discussing many of thes above ideas
The Focus Society of Overachievers