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“No wind serves him who addresses his voyage to no certain port.” So says Michel de Montaigne.

Michel lived in the 1500s. In his day one of the main methods of travel was by ship, by sailing ship. Sailing ships require wind, and it’s helpful if the wind is blowing a favorable direction. Good sailors can use almost any wind to get to their destination, but a favorable wind makes it easier.

But look what Michel said, “No wind serves him who addresses his voyage to no certain port.” In other words, if you haven’t chosen a destination it doesn’t make any difference which way the wind is blowing! It’s not the wind that makes the difference. It’s the goal!

Today we don’t do a lot of serious traveling by sailing ship. Sailing has become more a sport than a method of transportation. But, Michel’s observation still holds true.

Imagine for a moment that you go to your local airport. You have your packed luggage with you, and you have your credit card. You’re all set. You get in line to purchase a ticket. When you get to the desk you hand the agent your credit card and ask for a ticket. Then what?

The agent asks you “Where do you want to go?”

And, you answer “I don’t know, I just want a ticket.”

There you are, all packed up with credit card in hand and that agent can’t help you because you haven’t chosen your destination.

We could paraphrase Michel de Montaigne a bit here. How about “No credit card serves him who doesn’t know where he’s going.” OK, so four hundred years from now no blogger will be quoting me!

But remember this. One of the first steps in achieving your goal is to establish clearly what that goal is. Once you do that, you can use almost any “wind” to take you there.

Note: I hope you’ve noticed that there is a “Goal Quotations” block on the left side of this site. Check it out each time you come here; there will be different quotations showing up regularly to help inspire you.

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