I was listening to a podcast the other day and the speaker brought up a term that applies to how so many people seem to live their lives: Drifting.
Drifting through life.
Now, I’m a coach who teaches the concept of ‘being in flow’ and I knew immediately the difference between the two.
But I’m not sure how clear the difference is to others.
All of us are on a unique life journey. We all have a path that we’re traveling along. If you are on the right path well, things just seem to work out. There is a natural flow to how things appear in your life, opportunities, coincidences, meeting people, being in certain places at the right time. That’s what I call ‘being in flow in life’. Of course, it’s not all smooth sailing 100% of the time. Being in flow also incorporates paying attention to the taps or nudges you get when you find yourself veering off your path so to ensure you get back on it. (By the way, the taps and nudges get more intense the more you ignore them. You can check out this article on that subject!)
The thing is, being on the right path means going in a direction and towards something. It’s having a goal or destination in mind. It’s a path to somewhere.
Drifting is something else. Drifting has no direction and no destination. There’s no tapping or nudging to get you back on track because there wasn’t a track in the first place. In fact, when you are drifting, what you find are walls, obstacles, problems and challenges that push you off into another direction. It’s very reactive.
The image that pops into my mind is that of a pinball machine. The ball just bounces off one wall to another, to another obstacle, back to a wall, and eventually down a hole. It’s very chaotic and jarring.
But when you are in flow, there’s a natural ease. Yes, there are bumps, those nudges or taps, but you deal with them. You respond rather than react.
To get onto the right path, you must have a destination in mind. You must have a goal. It’s what will keep your focused. It’s what will help you navigate your way through everything that comes your way.
When you are on the right path and in flow, you’ll eventually get to where you want to get to -which is to your goal. On the other hand, if you go on drifting, you will eventually end up somewhere, but it might not be somewhere you like or want to be.
So, if you don’t want to end up somewhere, doing something, being with someone that you don’t like or want, then you need to get clear on where you do want to be, what you do want to be doing, who you do want to be with.
Don’t just drift along. Set yourself some goals.
