Confused, Not Lost

I was in Rome a while ago, and I needed to backtrack to find a place where I had been about 20 minutes before. As an American, I’m typical — I find the ancient cities of Europe a marvel of small alleys leading to magnificent piazzas punctuated by grand churches — and everything looking the same!

Never being “lost,” I found myself momentarily “confused” in a tiny street of small shops and restaurants. The problem was, even if I did ask someone for directions, I couldn’t really accurately describe where I wanted to go — until I saw them: postcards.

I discovered the other best use for postcards: not just to tell your far-away friends, “Hey, I was here,” but to tell someone close by, “Hey, this is where I want to go.” It worked perfectly. I picked up the picture of my destination and said to the shop-keeper, “Where?” (English seems to be the second language of Rome.) It turns out that I was only a short walk away — down another alley.

How is this a career lesson? If you can’t describe where you want to go, you can’t ask anyone for help getting there. If you want to be a major gifts officer, but you can’t articulate that to someone, getting that job is much more difficult.

So tonight, on the way home, or sometime after supper, instead of watching television, take a few minutes to describe your ideal job. Create a “picture” on paper — right down to what you’ll do day-to-day and how much money you’ll make. That way, next time you’re a bit “confused,” you can take that picture to a sympathetic friend and ask “Where is this?”