Great Circle Routes (Introduction)

“Time flies. It's up to you to be the navigator.”

-- Robert Orben (1927-)

I'm finally at an age where I can begin to impart wisdom and people actually listen. Perhaps it's the gray hair. Regardless, for the last couple of decades, I've been collecting random thoughts about life and making your way through it. Fortunately, a lot of the ideas aren't mine alone. I've tapped the collective wisdom of everyone I've known, all along the way.

So, with that I give you...

GREAT CIRCLE ROUTES:
RANDOM THOUGHTS ON 

GETTING WHERE YOU WANT TO GO

The title is explained in the narrative (part 3, I think). I've organized it into a series of five essays (or, more appropriately, bullet points, I guess) that I hope will provoke some interesting thoughts.

INTRODUCTION TO THE FIVE-PART SERIES

Any fool can steer a ship; It's just knowing where to take it.
--Robert Bolt, The Bounty

Planning for the future, like steering a ship, is simply a way of deciding what to do now so that you can arrive where you want to be in the future. Effort and direction are the two components of any progress you make.

It takes more than determination, however, to find your way. Boats capable of ocean voyages existed for hundreds of years before the first courageous Europeans strayed from friendly coasts. Not until accurate methods of navigating across vast stretches of featureless water were developed did the world finally give-up its secrets.

Similarly, there are a few basic techniques for planning in life that can help direct your efforts. This course was developed to help you discover those techniques for yourself. Make no mistake, however; There are no magic answers. You'll find no lists, no point-by-point steps to a better life. Instead, the ideas presented are intended to help motivate you and to give you the means to evaluate your own life, establish your own goals, and find the best way of helping yourself achieve those goals. Success is, after all, not found in any memorized process. It is a state of mind. And planning for your success should be a process that makes sense for you.

Plan your own path to the future and follow it. You'll probably be surprised just how far you can go!

This narrative will be continued in five parts, over the next few days.