Direction Is Good (And Necessary)

Lately at work, I've been feeling a little direction-less - a little like I wasn't sure which path I should be taking, wondering if I'm doing the right things, tackling the right projects, and so on. It's a bit frustrating to not be sure that I'm moving in the direction that the company needs me to go. I want to do the best for my employer and you can only continue on without a clear path in front of you for so long.

Today, I got some direction. I had to go through an exercise for the CEO in which I plotted out my top 3 goals for the next 8 quarters, basically 2009-2010. That's tough to do. It's tough to sit down and answer the question "What do I want to accomplish for the next 8 quarters?" without really knowing what the rest of the company is doing.

But, I did it: 1) cuz the CEO asked for it; and, 2) because it's always a good thing to have some goals and something to reach towards. It was an exercise done in a bit of a vacuum, but valuable nonetheless.

Back to today... I had a meeting scheduled with my boss, the president of the company, and the CEO to go over my proposed plans. I got some great feedback and I got some very direct and clearcut goals for my team. I've got an idea of what I should be focusing on, where I should be looking, and what these 2 executives want to see out of me. I came out of that meeting feeling relief and less frustrated than before because I've got some goals and areas of focus.

I don't do well without goals and direction. I'm not one to just kind of wander around and hope I get where I want to - I've got lists, I make sure I know what projects are going to take to complete, I print out directions when I go on vacation simply because I don't want to be unprepared.

I need direction in my life - all areas - or I feel adrift and frustrated and unhappy. Now that I've got some direction, I can focus my energies and really dig in.