When I was a kid, my folks would pile us into the car and we’d go off for a “Sunday drive.” There was no particular destination. Some days we’d end up “somewhere.” But more times than not, we’d just meander.

And  sometimes we’d get “lost.”

I thought about this after a coaching session the other day. My client was about to start a new business. I asked him about the “mission” of the business;  what he wanted the “outcome” of the business to be – other than just making money. He didn’t know.

That was “problematic.” We spent the rest of our session getting clear about his desired outcome, his destination.

Because knowing your outcome is mission-critical. Without an outcome, you’ll meander.

And surely get lost.

Not just in business. But in life as well.

It’s ok to meander from time to time. In fact, meandering can be good for the body, mind and soul. But if we spend our lives meandering, we most certainly will lose our way.

You need to know your destination, you need to see your target clearly if you’re going to get “there.”

Most of us wouldn’t show up at the Delta ticket counter and ask for a ticket without knowing where we’re going.  Most of us don’t venture off to an unknown city without downloading directions from Google Maps or programming our GPS.

But a lot of us start our days and our weeks… and our years without a clue as to where we’re going… and why.

In our businesses, we want to get clear on lots of stuff like:

• What is the purpose of my business?;
• What do I want its impact to be?
• What is the culture that I intend to create?
• Who are my customers, where do they live, what do they look like, what do they want?
• And what do I want the experience of my business to be for my customers?

These are the types of questions we need to answer even before things like revenue and expenses.

In our personal lives too:

• What are we called to do?
• Who are we called to serve?
• What are our game-changing hopes and dreams and aspirations?
• What do we want our legacies to be?
• What do we want to be the experiences of our lives; how do we want our lives to feel?

When we’re focused on where we want to go, we’re much more likely to get there.

What we focus on expands. What we measure, we improve upon. And while the holidays are here again and there are lots of things to distract ourselves with, this is the best time of year to reflect on what went well over this past year, to evaluate where we were challenged, and to cue up the plans for an exciting year ahead.

Did you know that most folks don’t even bother making New Year’s resolutions anymore? That’s because they’ve discovered, by default, that most “resolutions” don’t work out anyway. In fact, less than 10% of folks actually make them; and nearly all of those who do have abandoned the effort by the first of February.

“Resolutions” tend to be fuzzy. And not terribly sexy. (Really, who get’s really jazzed about lowering their cholesterol?) The reality is that most of us don’t take the time to create a compelling, inspiring, joy-filled vision for the year ahead. We don’t get clear. And without clarity, one week blends into the next… and before you know it, another year has blown by. We wake up wondering where the time went… how another year passed… and why we’re in the same place we were a year ago.

To succeed in business… and in this one and only life we have, it’s absolutely critical to get clear about where we’re going.

Clarity is power. 

I’ve created a template to guide you through some reflections on the year that’s coming to a close, together with a framework for getting clear (and jazzed) about what you will accomplish in the year ahead.

Download your template HERE. Print it out. Settle down by the fire and spend an hour (or two) with it. Share it with your partner, spouse or significant other. Get excited about the possibilities. Get excited about what you will create and enjoy. It will be fun. It will give you immense clarity (and power). It will make a huge, huge difference. Seriously.

Enjoy these beautiful days ahead. Rejoice with family and friends. Celebrate all that is good.

Revel in the possibilities. Enjoy (perhaps even get lost in) some restful meandering.

And then get ready to rock an awesome year ahead.