Rule 9 - Start With The End In Mind
Reverse engineer how to get to your end goal.
I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination. – Jimmy Dean
Always start with the end in mind. What is the ideal outcome? What is your destination? And then breakdown the journey into manageable pieces, reverse engineering the path to get there.
If you don’t have a destination, you don’t have direction. And if you don’t have direction you are lost, going around and around in circles.
By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination. – Christopher Columbus
The path isn’t always clear, because the path is not always well traveled. But with an end in mind, a good internal compass and a belief in self you can reach your destination.
A good internal compass is about optimism. The optimism that the destination is achievable, even when the path isn’t clear. But a good internal compass is not just about optimism, it is also about having enough self awareness to know when a correction is needed. To know when you have strayed off course and need to get back on the path.
The path less traveled can be dangerous, it is uncharted and filled with traps. And when pioneering, when innovating often you will need to be the first to taste the berries and hope they are not poisonous.
To become ‘unique,’ the challenge is to fight the hardest battle which anyone can imagine until you reach your destination. – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Check out The Engineering Rule Book for the other rules.