How do I get there from here?

The issue...
We often wonder, "How do I get to point B (where I want to be) from Point A (where I am now)?".

Is always an issue...
As coaches, facilitators, consultants and trainers, much of what we do consists of working through this challenge with our clients, colleagues, friends and other relationships. Yet the A to B question is still an issue for many of us.

When will I devote time to giving this some serious consideration?
We are all caught up in our stories about who we are and what we need to do to survive. How much time do we invest in contemplating the solution to the Point A to Point B challenge?

Who am I?
Many of us are so caught up in whatever our life looks like that we are often not even aware of a Point B. We continue taking history and putting it in front of ourselves, living into it and wondering when something will change. We create life scripts regarding who we are early on in our lives and live the same scripts out over and over, rarely questioning whether they are still relevant.

What is my vision?
When we do write things down, we tend to write down tasks rather than goals, and focus on task completion, never taking the time to consider a vision, strategy, plan or goals.

Sharing thoughts, ideas, insights, knowledge, resources, tools and time with others builds community...
After a request via email for an answer to this, I crafted a brief response to this question to a professional who is committed to evolving her career. Currently she is an internal corporate trainer, and she wants to transition into a self-employed consulting position. It occurred to me that I could invest a few minutes and recraft my response into a web page as a resource to others. Feel free to pass this message along to whoever you know that might benefit.

An environment that supports you...
In getting from A to B, you'll want to create an environment that supports you in whatever you're up to. Some of the ingredients for this environment include the following:

  • self-study
  • a visioning process
  • partner with a colleague on goal setting and achievement
  • active participation in discussion lists where you can share knowledge, resources, ideas, insight and much more with others who are similarly aligned.
  • voraciously read anything you can get your hands on relating to your vision
  • study NLP
  • informational interviews with those who are where you want to be
  • teleclasses
  • e-learning
  • R&D on the web
  • build a social network of those who are where you want to be, where everyone shares knowledge, resources, insights and tools
  • writing about what you are passionate about
    (forces the R&D/study a bit)
  • get a coach
  • coach yourself
  • study small business administration
  • talk with anyone and everyone regarding your vision for yourself
  • brown bags at your company that will give you practice
    (and create a listening for you as a skilled trainer/facilitator/whatever you're up to)
  • consider earning a degree through self study from home
    (there are tons of self-paced and e-classes everywhere, you choose which college)
  • create a vision of yourself as you want to be...what does that look like? (make it real...present time, colorful, what are you seeing, hearing, etc)
  • get a mentor
  • model that which you want
  • be persistent
  • be passionate
  • know you can do/be whatever you can imagine

What is NLP?
Passionately and persistently applying the technology of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) will get you wherever you want to go.
NLP is a technology explaining how one becomes masterful at anything.

There are many resources relating to NLP on the web.

Here is a page
with links to some of these resources.