The Mighty Milestones

I lost the post I was drafting. C’est la vie!
Here I go again. It’s not going to come out the same but let’s surprise myself.

Milestones are important. I know. I definitely know.

I am blessed with having absolutely no sense of direction at all. The only way I get from Point A to Point B is thanks to my mighty milestones. Everywhere I go, I look out for buildings, signs, anything at all that can be my landmarks – my milestones to pace my journey. I do quite well… mostly.

… which leads me to a story.

In one of my past lives, I used to travel to Bangkok more often than I visit the supermarket back home. Very mindful of not troubling my colleagues to ferry me to and from the office, I say “Just show me the way once, and I can direct the cab and meet you at the office”. Very quietly in the car during the “show me the way” stage, I would note all that past me by, always on the look out for something that I could use as a landmark, my milestone that said "I have reached this far", "I am going in the right direction", "I have that much more to go". Along the Bangkok highway, the easiest landmarks were the billboards, so many of the billboards became my guides.

So armed with my milestones, I would confidently make my way to the office every day... until one day.

That was the day I lost my "Blue Lagoon" billboard.

I was half dreaming in the cab when suddenly I realised I hadn't seen my "Blue Lagoon" with the picture of a happy couple hand in hand running along a beach of sorts. Where was it? Had I past it? Is it round the corner? Panic came in fast and furiously.

In the past, I ignored all other signs, buildings, other billboards and only looked for the milestones I had selected. I guess I did it on purpose so that I would not get distracted or perhaps it was because I felt that since I already had my milestones, I did not have to bother with anything else.

Now, in searching of my missing "Blue Lagoon" (what was Blue Lagoon anyway? I couldn't even remember what they were advertising for, so much for the power of advertising, but that is for another day), I looked at every other billboard trying hard to remember if they came before or after my "Blue Lagoon".

That was when I spotted a billboard publicising an upcoming Franchise Fair. Even in the midst of my panic-stricten state, I managed to jot down the details of the Fair, after which I proceeded to continue to look for my milestones.

To cut a long story short, I eventually found my way to the office (how I am not quite sure)... and where did my "Blue Lagoon" go? Apparently, the contract had expired, and the space was replaced by another advertisement.


More important, I attended the Franchise Fair, met many interesting people and gathered really interesting ideas.


Moral of the story? Milestones are mighty. They are mighty because they help pace your journey. They give you the energy and confidence you need to carry on to achieve your goal. Milestones are mighty. They are mighty deceiving and dangerous if you do nothing but plaster your eyes on them and on nothing else.

So now, I still select my milestones, but along the way, as I look out for my milestones, I also make sure I look around and enjoy the Bangkok skyline, and look out for anything that catches my eye..

I trust I can leave it to you to make the leap from my almost laughable experience to you, your business and life in general.

Till next blog,

Enjoy defining your reality. Make it happen!

June