Begin At The End

This week, I sat and watched as my son complete a maze and trace his pencil around the corners and dead-ends of the maze. I was reminded of a tip I learned in childhood that took some of the purpose away from activities but made me finish faster. At some point in my childhood, I figured out it was easier to start at the finish line and draw the line backwards to the start. I ran into way less road blocks and completed the mazes pretty quickly, at least the easier ones! In hindsight, I realize this defeated the purpose of the maze. It eliminated most the problem solving, risk-taking and thinking that a maze requires.

In life and goals it is best to think about where your finish line is before you embark on the journey. You will run a much easier path working backwards than forwards. If we don’t think about what the finish line or where it is located then we may be satisfied to end up at a dead end in the middle of a maze, only to realize much too late that we never made it to the end.

Several years after I learned to cheat on mazes, I remember reading my dad’s copy of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. A classic leadership and self-help book, Covey has given many of us tips and frameworks for success. Habit #2 is is one of those, it says: BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND. Covey explains that you must begin by visualizing the destination to be effective. Here is a link to Covey’s summary of this habit (https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits-habit2.php) and a link to see the book on Amazon(Amazon).

This is important to reaching your goals, being successful, and finding fulfillment in your life. If you don’t know where you are going, then chances are you’ll end up somewhere you don’t belong. So where do you want to end up? What’ is your finish line for the project, for work, for your family, for your life? You can’t skip over the maze of life, You still have to deal with the dead ends and hurdles, but knowing your destination will make the journey mean so much more.