Have you ever seen a sextant?
It’s a beautiful instrument, isn’t it? Conceived of by Sir Isaac Newton and in use since the early 1700s, generations of mariners have used the sextant for navigation. By measuring the altitude of a celestial object above the horizon, you can figure out where you are.
Which is a pretty good thing to know.
Now, a GPS unit is nowhere near as elegant.
But it’s used for navigation too. In fact, you can pinpoint a location with a GPS unit within thirty feet. I took one to the Andes recently. Pretty amazing technology.
But the problem is, even with the best technology, you can still stray off course.
Staying on course can be a challenge. When I first learned to sail and navigate, I learned a method called dead reckoning. It’s the process of estimating your current position based upon a previously determined position and advancing the position based upon known or estimated speeds over elapsed time and course.
The problem with dead reckoning is that since new positions are calculated solely from previous ones, the errors of the process are cumulative. If you misjudge any one element, like wind or cross-current, there will be an error in your estimated position. And an error with a position fix compounds and grows with time.
Even with new technology, this is true.
Let’s say you are sailing from Marion, Massachusetts to Bermuda in the annual race. The distance is 645 miles. What would happen if you were just 2 degrees off course for the entire distance? You might know where you were with your GPS. But unless you corrected course, you’d miss the island entirely. (Not to mention the party at the finish.)
Two degrees doesn’t sound like much. But over time, the error compounds. The outcome can be disasterous.
Kind of like real life.
I’ve been listening to a wonderful program by the legendary motivational counselor and success trainer, the late Jim Rohn. It’s called The Art of Exceptional Living. In it, Rohn talks about the importance of “mid-course” corrections.
“When they send a rocket to the moon,” he says, “they know the rocket will eventually get a little off course. The first set of guidance systems will not be enough for the whole trip. There will be a need for a mid-course correction.”
“You and I are no different,” says Rohn. “From time to time we, too, must execute our own mid-course correction.”
Journeys don’t always go as planned. It’s easy to get off track. To lose one’s way.
What may have once been the right career or job or school or partnership may not be any longer. Goals change. Dreams change. People change. The course once plotted may no longer take you to where you now need and want to go. Continuing to forge ahead is not the fix. It will compound the error. A reef in the Lesser Antilles and not Bermuda.
In the stock market, there’s an old adage: don’t try to catch a falling knife. The phrase is used to describe an investor’s tendency to hold on to a troubled stock, even when it’s in a free fall. Sticking by a miscalculation in judgment can only hurt you.
Exit, regroup, reconsider.
Men are particularly bad at asking directions, I’m told. But directions are helpful too. From professionals, coaches, counselors and friends.
Take time to assess, to plot, to plan. Again.
Straying off course is part of the trip.
And it’s ok to decide to change course. To reconsider where you want to go. Or how you want to get there. The Lesser Antilles may be a better destination after all.
When I sail, I’m always tinkering at the helm. Watching the compass, assessing the current, sensing the wind, correlating it all with the GPS. And constantly making small adjustments. To stay on course.
What a useful skill I think this might be.
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