Ali Campbell is an internationally acclaimed life coach; he has built an enviable reputation as a highly motivational Coach, Presenter, Therapist and Personal Trainer. An advisor to celebrities, business leaders and politicians and even royalty around the world. Ali is widely featured in the media, on Television, Radio and in print. He is uniquely placed to assist you to reach your goals.
As we flew low over the Scottish highlands, our little plane being buffeted by the wind and thermal air currents, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was what some people felt like in their lives… Continually being blown off course and fighting to make any progress in the right direction.
This flight was the culmination of a period of great flux and change in my own life and a scenic flight over one of my favourite parts of the world was the highlight of what had been a very challenging couple of months. The scenery was in stark contrast to the beginning of the flight. We had taken off from Cumbernauld, once voted the ‘most dismal place in Scotland’, and yet I was soon looking down on the majestic, rugged beauty of the highlands. I guess where you start from is not so important - the journey through life is yours to explore.
I know the highlands well and delighted in picking out some of my favourite landmarks but this time I could see the highlights all at once, like playing join the dots on the Scottish landscape. I guess you could say that I could see the bigger picture, and boy did it look different. Suddenly, from here, great mountains looked small and I could see things from a new perspective, not just from the cockpit. I was also able to put so many things into the correct proportion in other areas of my life.
The only thing disturbing me from my daydream was the pilot’s constant fidgeting. From the moment we took off, he had been moving levers, adjusting switches and checking his instruments. ‘Was this normal?’ Apparently it was. A plane never flies in a straight line from A to B. Not even the big ones you get on as you head off to the sun. Instead the pilot (or auto pilot) is constantly making adjustments; correcting the flight path to account for wind and weather, other aircraft and many other unforeseen factors to fly the easiest, but not always the shortest, route and ensure that you touch down safely where you intended.
It struck me that this really is the same in life, but how often have you set your flight plan and then allowed yourself to be blown off course at the first gust of unexpected wind? It strikes me that the key to reaching your goals is to first of all know what the goal is. Set your flight plan. Then have flexibility in your angle of approach to make it happen. But here’s the key: There are numerous ways to get where you want to be and the problem with focus is that, by very definition, you are excluding a whole lot of other routes. Keep your eye on the destination, not on your pre-conceived idea of how you might get there.