The other day I was listening to a leadership podcast where John Maxwell, a best selling author and influential leadership coach, was being interviewed. A portion of his interview that stuck out to me was his thoughts on our journey in life, business, parenting, or ________ (fill in the blank). He stated that most of us suffer from Destination Disease, always looking ahead to when we finally ‘arrive’. While its certainly not wrong to have future goals and strive for them, he cautioned us not to miss the Joy of the Journey. It’s stepping back, right now, where you are…and being thankful.
In today’s culture, it’s always about the next best thing, rising to the top, being the best. These are not bad items in and of themselves, they are what drive us forward, they’re what make businesses profit, they’re what excite us. However, if we strive so hard for the ‘arrival point’ that we miss the tremendous blessing of the journey to get there, we rob ourselves of the joy of life today, the joy of our business today, the joy of our children today…
Bottom line, don’t get caught with Destination Disease. Rather, step back and find the Joy of the Journey. For me, as a Partner of an Investment Management firm, it is easy to get caught up in the volitility of the markets and future goals for growth of our firm. But today, right now, I’m reminded of the joy it is to serve a loyal group of clients as we navigate the markets and journey together toward successfully managing their investments.
