Seth Godin shows The Dip

It is obvious that there are many great books, philosophies, inspirational speakers and other tools that can help us on our journey to discover what we really want to achieve, where we really find meaning and purpose in life.

One of these tools may well be Seth Godin's latest book, The Dip.

This visual outlines the journey, really. When we start off, things seem positive. Then a moment comes when we need to reconsider if we are still on the right path. Are we still following my northern star - do we still know where I am going? What are the things we should give up on and what are the things we should push through? Perseverance might pay off, if applied to the right areas of work/life. These any many other questions are covered in The Dip, a very useful and worthwhile read available in bookstores globally. Pick up a copy and let's discuss what you though of it!

But now back to the personal development: Before deciding about the steps on the journey, I find it critically important to come up with a personal vision - and mission statement. This statement naturally changes over time, but it's essence remains, it engrained in our values, our personality, our skills and development areas.

On the above visual some of the possible elements of a personal vision and purpose are outlined. But maybe some are missing - and others do not mean much to us. That is why a very personalized journey is necessary for each of us. The journey is not short. But it's worth it. And it should start with identifying what is going well and what is off track in our lives - followed by the formulation of a personal vision.

I just took on Coursera.org an online course on Emotional Intelligence by Prof. Boyatzis. We also covered Resonant Leadership and Personal Vision in class - please do access info on this online. It's extremely insightful. And I will cover a small part of in in my next blog post.