I don’t remember where this came from. Was it a book, a film or what? But the phrase came back to me this morning as I read an article about someone who gave up teaching because it was so stressful to become a lorry driver.

A few years ago, I met someone who drove lorries for a living, and he said that driving lorries, particularly on motorways, was his dream job. You are just sitting watching the world go by for hours just listening to the radio. I knew another driver who drove lorries all round Europe. He got to see countries almost as if he was on holiday and got paid for doing it. I must admit to a certain admiration for their skill, particularly when I see these drivers reversing into a space barely wider than the lorry.

I can understand the appeal, but I think I would get bored pretty quickly. When we were having a bad day, we used to joke about working on the tills at Tesco, but seeing how bored most of them looked, there was no way that we were serious.

So, if you could not do the job you do at the moment, what would you choose to do? There were two professions that, when growing up, I knew that I did not want to do. Coming from a family of civil servants, I knew I never wanted to be one. The other was a teacher. I think it takes a special type of person to teach, and I never thought that it was for me. My sister, who is quite small, taught maths to teenage boys. Knowing her as I do, I don’t imagine she had any problems controlling her class. But that would not have been for me.

I was introduced to the world of self-employment by my future father-in-law, who had a small beef farm. It was a whole new world. I also worked for a short time in a ship chandlery business, buying, selling, ordering and researching products and prices. At the time, I did not think that this was my forever job and so moved on to accountancy, but looking back, it was an environment that I really enjoyed. If I had stuck to it, where would I be and what would I be doing now?

Do you ever wonder what might have been? So many seemingly inconsequential decisions in your path and yet each one in time proved so important in determining the pattern of your life. I suppose that it goes back to that familiar saying that there are no wrong paths in life. If you are happy and are not adversely impacting others, then all your past experiences, past decisions, both good and bad, are what have made you the person you are today and put you where you are. So, no regrets!

But let’s add another thought here. You cannot determine where you start out in life, but you can decide where you want to end up. The end result should be a conscious decision. It should be the result of working towards a known goal. Drifting is not allowed!

When I left university with a decent degree, I drifted for a short while. But then I set my goal. Where did I want to be and what did I want to be doing by the time I was 40? I did both by 32. Having a goal to work towards gives you focus and a way to make decisions more easily. It is the same as getting in your car. You either know your route, or you get out the map (or sat nav). But the essential part of navigation is knowing your destination. Just like driving your car, in life, you need to know where you are because, according to that well known saying, “if you don’t know where you are heading, all roads lead there”. Having a goal gives you a destination, and every decision in your life is measured against the route to your goal.

Drift and you end up somewhere, and maybe you like that idea. Personally, I don’t like too many choices and having a whole 360 degrees to navigate is too much for me. Give me three, and I’ll pick one. More than that, I am more likely to procrastinate.

“Good, better, best” works for me.

Alan E Long

The Long Partnership

07770 738770