Friday, January 04, 2013

A Different Perspective: The Lighthouse and The Torch

The Lighthouse and The Torch: Both are sources of light, both guide you to your destinations, but to me, both offer different perspectives on how we approach work and life.

What started as a philosophical quest for me, became something of practical value. It was one of those "Aha Moments" in the process of self-discovery.

Here's a gist of they mean to me:

Light House
Photo credit: hdwallpapers.in
 The Lighthouse symbolizes a destination/ goal you want to reach. You see the guiding light of your goal/ destination and know where you need to go.






Torch
Photo credit: imdiamart.com
The Torch symbolizes taking matter in your hands and doing something about it, yourself.








The question that follows is - Which one is more important? Is one of them a better approach than other?

The answer manifests - Both are required.

Why so?
When you have set a goal, it shines all through to tell you where you should be going. But to go there, you have to take matter in your own hands and actually take the first step.

Think of Light house as a Goal/ Objective (Big or Small, Long-term or Short-term) in your life/ career like -
1. I want to watch a movie, or
2. I want to own a car, or
3. I want to reduce my weight, or
4. I want to do well in my exam

Think of The Torch as actual Actions you take to achieve your goals -
1. Finding brokers, finding new properties, visiting the site, negotating and signing the agreement.
2. Selecting a dealer, visiting it, test driving, negotiating, handing over the cheque, driving car back home
3. Baselining your current weight, start running, swimming, etc, doing it regularly, monitoring your weight, re-aligning your efforts
4. Defining what score you expect, Studying regularly, Forming a habit, giving mock-up tests, checking mock-up score vis-a-vis your objective, re-aligning your efforts, etc

To achieve something, you need both the Objective (The Light House) and the Action (The Torch).

Another "Aha-Moment" as I type this. Sometimes you can't plan things through. You only know where to go. (The Light House) In such cases, just take Torch with you and start exploring. If you hit a wall - explore another way, then correct your path. If you make a mistake, correct.

Steadily, you'll find yourself reaching The Light house, using The Torch. :)

What do you think of these? Would like to hear your thoughts/ views. Thanks