Destination? Ask Yourself for Directions.

Ideally, you would have figured out your Logittude BEFORE determining your Destination and Directions.  Ideally….  but not realistically.  For a jump start, consider these questions:

Where do you really want your life to go from here?  This means considering what you would like to be doing personally, professionally or in general.  Where would you like to be living when you are do what you wish to be doing?  Who do you want to share this experience with or not?  Can you financially support these choices?  Do you have the health, physical fitness or intellectual tools to accomplish this?  You may think of some extremes in your answers, but these extremes may direct you to some ideas that you really see possible.

Now… what can you do now – today, tomorrow, this week – to bring that goal closer to reality?  Just pick something small if necessary, but at the end of each day, find a way to say YES to the question:  Have I done something today to get closer to my goals?

Beginnings. Finding your Personal Compass.

Every journey starts somewhere.  Every project has an initial step.  Finding your Personal Compass will begin our exploration together toward finding your Logittude.

When I was teaching Communication in Human Relations, almost every textbook began with the classic Model of Communication.  There was a sender, a receiver and a message.  There was also what was usually called a Frame of Reference surrounding each participant in the model.  This concept is not limited to communication studies.  The Frame of Reference is much like what Logittude explores on the personal level.

Your personal history of experiences, emotions, education, knowledge, relationships – everything that has touched you emotionally, physically and psychologically – forms a foundation for your Logittude.  Through personal evaluation, you can map where you’ve been to the current point in time.

Why study the history of You? By knowing where you’ve been and how you reached this current point in your existence, you have established references to direct, or possibly redirect, where you are going next.  Logittude.com will take various aspects of your background one step at a time.  You took a while to get where you are.  For better or worse, it can’t be explained in one post.  Pace yourself.  The best IS yet to come.

Your Personal Compass is formed based on an anchor point.  Your background is that anchor.  The background will not change, although your attitude towards the elements in your background might be altered as your perspectives change.  By recognizing and acknowledging what forms your foundations, you can create your Personal Compass with reference point including where you think you want to go, where you think you are actually headed, as well as where you might go if you drift off track.

My constant advice to you all:  SHINE!

Workplace #1: Congratulations! You have a job!

Logittude evolves in all of your settings – personal, family, public and the workplace.  Of course, the type of work you do will change the Logittude perspectives.  Most principles can be applied whether you are self-employed or a cog in a mighty corporate or industrial wheel.  You may have different physical environments for your job, but Congratulations!  At least you have a job!  (For those who don’t, we’ll broach that topic in later installments.)  Lesson 1 is this:  Appreciate what you have for what it is.  To do that, try to assess what you have.  What is your job, really?  Not everyone does what their were hired to do, primarily because no one makes them follow through.  There are supervisors and managers and bosses, but are you fulfilling the full purpose of the task to the best of your abilities and thoroughness?  Why?  Ruts come from puttering around without progress.  You may have routine tasks that can be improved upon with your own improved skills, attitude or practice.  When you appreciate what you have for what it can be at its best, then you can get a view of what you might want next.  Are you at your best?  Are you content to continue doing the same thing?  Would you like to increase responsibility, level of tasks, add new skills?  Get beyond your rut with an honest assessment of your present situation and by setting your sights on any improvements on the horizons.  You get to decide.

Student Success #1: Be there!

Students:  Whether you are in primary, secondary, college or graduate school, if you are to be in a class for the purpose of learning something… BE THERE!  Show Up!  There are reasons that courses have classrooms otherwise textbooks would be distributed, and everyone could just go home.  If you have a class to attend, figure out in advance where you are supposed to be and get there before the starting time.  As a student progresses to the college level, this does get to be a bit more of a challenge with a variety of campus buildings and sometimes a variety of campuses.  As a university educator and a parent, I have always been baffled at how many students cannot seem to get the first class of a semester located in the right place, the right time and even right date.  Many students, given the option, will blow off the first day because “nothing happens”.  On the contrary, the first day establishes the tone and expectations for the semester.  Often a course calendar or syllabus is distributed and explained.  I suggest a spiral notebook style calendar with enough room to note when, where and the dates.  Simple to get started… Day One success:  Be There, and repeat as necessary to have perfect attendance.

Logittude #2: Teach your children – Teach YOURSELF

Anyone can excell when it comes to Learning.  No matter what the setting – in the classroom, at work or at home – education can be improved by all individuals involved.  The Logittude here is identifying what can be learned and how to get that material presented and absorbed.  Students can excell in any subject no matter how boring the teacher may be (in the student’s opinion).  Teachers can improve their presentations by finding what the student needs to receive the material.  You can learn any subject if you identify your own learning styles and become your own teacher.  Through Logittude, regular installments will give you bits and pieces of how to accomplish your own Learning Improvement.  [Of course, this doesn’t mean you can teach yourself rocket science or brain surgery skills…. but if you have a subject that you want or need to learn, Logittude can guide you through the tasks.]  A separate Category is included in Logittude.com for Students, Educators & YOU.  Educators will benefit by following along as knowing your student is important to know how to present materials for their best absorption.  In turn, students might benefit from sneaking peeks in that column.  As Students of Life, a glance in various columns won’t hurt anyone.  You might find applications to other parts of your life as you explore the ideas.  SHINE!

Logittude Lesson #1 – Take responsibility.

You are responsible for your own outcomes.  If you’ve made up your mind to work on your Logittude, you must accept that YOU are IT when it comes to initiative, blame, reward, correction and inspiration.  You decide where you are going and how well you will progress.  There is no one to do this “because of” or “in spite of”.  You decide what you do next. You are the center of your Logittude and the navigator of your future.

New Year. New Directions. Starting out.

Directions are not just for travel.  Mapping is not just for finding physical destinations.  A positive enjoyable and rewarding existence is not just a happenstance of the Universe.  Living a great life intentionally is possible by discovering your own personal Compass and learning to use that tool to direct yourself to the goals you want to reach.

“Where is your head at?”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Where did THAT come from?”

“What were you thinking?”

If you’ve ever asked yourself questions like these, or been asked those questions by other people, Logittude may just help.