How do you handle detours?
Imagine that you have driven with other friends or family for several hundred miles on vacation. A green sign indicates that you are less than 50 miles from your final vacation destination. However, a little further up, you notice a bright orange sign that says “Detour” accompanied by a few “Road closed” signs.
Upon arriving to the detour, would you give up and tell everyone in the car that you’re turning around and driving back home? Or would you continue, take the detour, and have confidence that you would eventually arrive to your final destination?
Of course, it would be silly to give up after driving such a long distance and getting so close to your destination. You would take the detour, even if it took a little longer than expected to arrive to your final destination.
There are many times that you may chart a course in business or money matters. You get so close to achieving your goal, and an unexpected obstacle comes up. After all, most things don’t work 100% as planned.
Many times, obstacles create delays. A revision to the original plan is necessary, and it may not always feel comfortable. A revision can project you into uncharted waters, just as a detour sign can direct you to take unfamiliar routes or roads. However, a revision of the action plan will eventually get you “back on the road” so you can still reach your final goal. Without flexibility, determination, and a proper perspective of your accomplishments, plans crumble; it becomes tempting to just give up.
It is beneficial to learn from these temporary setbacks or detours. However, after reaching the final destination, it is also important not to rehash the past and dwell on these temporary setbacks. Rehashing the past would be like sharing vacation pictures and, instead of showing pictures that were taken at the vacation destination, only showing pictures of the detour. Instead of talking about the good times on vacation, you would only talk about the detour. This would quickly become boring and discouraging.
So … how do you handle detours? Feel free to share your stories and experiences.
