In my last post, I proposed that you don’t need a map, you need a compass.

Lest I throw the proverbial ‘baby out with the bath water’ (I really hate that phrase, but I couldn’t think of another one), I thought I’d share one way in which other people’s maps might help you as a reinventer.

What do I mean by a map? Generally anything that falls under the broad category of ‘do it this way and you will be guaranteed success, because this is what I did and I succeeded wildly.’

It could range from a quick adage, to a formula or series of steps, to a whole book that tells you how to accomplish a particular kind of reinvention.

Suppose, for example, that you are a reinventer who has decided to quit her job to create a new business. Here are some of the quick adages that may be offered to you:

• “Have a five year plan”
• “Make sure you have three years of income invested before you bail”
• “Pick a growth market”
• “Don’t pick a new market”
• “Decide on your niche”
• “Select a market with a broad appeal”
• “You must have at least a year’s worth of cold hard cash”
• “Develop a prototype product/service and test it before you quit your job”
• “It will take you three to four years to turn a profit, so plan accordingly”
• etc.

You get the idea.

You can start to see one problem by just looking at this short list. There isn’t agreement on the best strategy, and often even the strategies offered by ‘experts’ contradict each other.

Everybody has an opinion. My dog has an opinion (sometimes, a good one!).

I’m not saying that there aren’t good ideas out there, even great ones.

What I am saying is that they are all perspectives. And they may or may not fit your unique circumstances.

They may not be a match to your spirit, your loves, your passions, your heart, or even your business sense. And if they aren’t, and you try to follow them lockstep, you’ll feel your energy, enthusiasm, and stream of creative ideas drying up so fast that you’ll think you landed smack in the middle of a desert.

The other big problem about trying to follow other people’s maps is that as reinventers, we are rebels, renegades, and rule-breakers, not rule-makers, and definitely not rule-obeyers.

Nothing gets our dander up faster than someone telling us the way it should be done.

So what’s a reinventer to do?

First, always remember the nature of reinvention. It’s a ‘coming home’. To you. And you are unique. So, by definition, is there a map out there that you could follow exactly? No. That hasn’t kept me from trying, believe me. But, ask me how well it has worked out for me. I think you already know the answer to that.

So, my recommendation is that you use other people’s maps as menus, not maps. These will be people whom you like and you think might have some good ideas, of course.

Take each idea and ‘feel into it’. Check your gut. How does the idea or step or series of steps feel to you? Does it feel uplifting and ‘right’? Or does something feel a bit ‘off’ about it?

By the way, you are hereby granted complete permission to not know what is ‘off’ about it, but only that it feels ‘off’.

Don’t bother wasting energy on figuring out what’s ‘off’ if it feels ‘off’. If it feels ‘off’, it’s ‘off’, trust me. Move on. There’s no shortage of great ideas in the world.

Your path is unique. You are the only person who really knows what is a fit, right down to each step. And when you commit to yourself that you’ll check each idea for a ‘feels good’, ‘feels right’ fit, you can safely use other people’s maps, as menus. By menu I mean a list of ideas or steps that are someone else’s perspectives, some of which may possibly be a good fit for you.

You don’t select everything off a menu, even in a great restaurant (admittedly, it is tempting sometimes!), so you probably won’t want to here either.

While you’re at it, go for ‘great’ feeling ideas, not just ‘good’ ones, and you’ll have a lot more fun.

From this day forward, claim your own authority to absolutely know what is best for you in your reinvention. Use other people’s maps as menus, and create your own map, as you go, step-by-step.

START HERE:

Action: Check each idea or step for a ‘feels good’, ‘feels right’ fit.

Insight: How’s that working, trusting your own authority?

Filed under: Your Map, Survival Tactics on March 14th, 2007