FINDING YOUR NORTH STAR

Have you ever got lost before?

I used to pride myself on knowing everywhere I went.

I know exactly when I developed this innate skill as well.

It was when I was back in high school.

I went to a rural school and if we wanted to go to any parties, we had to drive.

This usually meant we would head out to someone's woolshed, hay barn or abandoned mai mai at times (that’s a hut on the edge of a pond you shoot ducks from for those northern folk)

But that would also mean, countless gravel roads, windy roads and very dirty cars come Sunday morning.

If you wanted to be a reliable driver you needed to know your way around.

By the time I hit my final year at school, I was pretty confident with the local landscape.

That was until we broadened our horizons and started visiting other school parties from around Southland.

That opened up a massive can of worms trying to navigate ourselves around the whole countryside so I learnt from then…

…i needed to be more aware of my surroundings.

I started to take note of monuments, the landscape, rivers, trees and even houses we passed just so I knew the way home.

Back then we didn't have google maps so it was pure navigation and handwritten direction notes...

...like, "take the second right after the corner with the massive tree on it."

or

"When you cross the second bridge after the hairpin..."

I think I got lost maybe once that whole year but considering the km’s we covered, I was pretty happy with that!

Those were the days...

it then leads me to remember my days in Melbourne,

I lived out of the city for a year or 2 and navigating myself out of the CBD in the early hours of the morning saved our skin a few times.

They were great times but if we didn't have our wits about us we could have ended up on the other side of the city.

It’s funny how much attention we pay to things if they are important to us!

My goal was to always get us home. It was my responsibility as a driver…

...so then why don’t we pay the same attention to our futures?

Our futures should be important to all of us yet we spend so much time worrying about the now, we don’t concern ourselves with where our destination is.

A concept that was introduced to me a few years ago really helped me to develop this. It's called ‘Finding your North Star’ and at the time, it held no weight for me until I started our business.

Finding your north star is a bit like saying that you are finding your 'just cause'.

A lot of people think it’s your why but it actually isn’t

Your why fuels your journey, your 'just cause' is the destination.

You see every night I was driving, my cause was to get everyone home safely, what was fuelling me was that it was my responsibility because I put my hand up to do it.

This week I put out another challenge to you all, what is your north star?

Where is it you're heading or want to head?

Is it to be the best version of you?

Is it to help people?

Is it to be the best Dad you can be?

Once you understand what your cause in life is, figure out what drives you and what will fuel your aspiration to be this person.

If you don’t have a destination, you have no direction…

...if you don’t have direction, then you’re driving around in circles.

Stop wasting petrol and start heading to where you’re born to be.

Find your North Star and chase after it!

Add clarity and direction in your life and never look back!

You deserve it!