Jumpinklings

Jumpinklings

How often have you felt ready to explode? Your heart beats faster in anticipation. Your fingers tingle and tremble waiting for an event unforeseen. Change seems to beckon you, but still the process is so painfully slow. Some people are afraid of change and get complacent with where they are. Others delight in change. What type are you? If you are the first type then you will not get what this blog is all about. On the other hand if you like change and desperately tried to create change and yet miserably failed, then you can relate to the frustration accompanied.

How many options have you tried? Varied and seemingly uncorrelated. The only objective in trying out so many options is that you have a direction to move if one of them works out. Did you select these options out of wanton whims or were they calculated attempts at well thought out destinations. I bet you are familiar with the pain associated when a new idea sprouts wings yet does not fly. I often wonder why it takes so much time for goals to reach fruition. 

From personal experience I can tell you that the calculated attempts are the ones that eventually reach completion. The others dart like arrows in different directions and strike no target since there was no time to aim. Sad but true! It is so much more fun to do something quickly and get over it. But if you haven’t planned it out in the beginning without evaluating all the pros and cons then the plans flounder. Intuitively in your ambition to change quickly you decide to take a few short cuts. Those stupid short cuts turn out to be long cuts into you ambition.

Example: You want to apply to a grad school. Getting the best possible recommendation takes two months of intensive work. Getting from your friend in the opposite cubicle takes two minutes. The application process is done well ahead of deadline. You feel as though you did something. But the question is did you do something that is in line with your goal? Result: Rejection due to a weak recommendation.

Jumpinklings don’t get you places. Calculated jumps do. Think of the decisions you have taken and the places where you have ended up. Were those decisions taken because you got bored and wanted to do something? Were they because you saw an add in the paper and thought: “hey let me try that!” Did you change your job because you were frustrated with where you are?

The solution is simple. Before you act or do something, think of the logic involved. Do a root cause analysis to find out why you want to do a particular thing. If the reasons stare at you and are in line with your goal. Go ahead. This process saves a lot of disappointment. Saving money, time and effort are side benefits.