You need something.  Actually I need it too.  We all need it.  Global Positioning System or GPS.

Before you go any farther, I am not suggesting you go out and buy a portable GPS system for your car (like the Garmin Nuvi ;)  Although, if you do, I think you will be thrilled if you travel a lot.  And if you are traveling like we are in unfamiliar places and the nearest gas station, Wendys, hotel or state park is a priority, then knock yourself out – great investment.

No, what I am talking about is your very own, personal GPS.  The one you were born with.  It rests within all of our brains.  Sometime we have it on, sometimes we leave it off.  It’s that inner voice that guides us through life’s decisions.  Maybe even, if you will, the little angel/devil on your shoulders.  Our little devil begs us to take the fastest route possible while the angle pleads for us to take the scenic route.  Or is it the opposite?  Depends on the road, I guess.

So, I just finished with my first mountain bike training exercise and as I was lying on the floor, face down in a puddle of sweat, something occurred to me between thoughts of my life exiting my body.  The thoughts went like this:

• wow, I think that muscle is going to throb and pop right out my knee
• man, I’m thirsty
• jeez, I’m getting old
• hmm, GPS uses triangulation to pinpoint one’s location – doesn’t it make sense that there is a method to triangulate our life to a) know where we are and b) get to where we’re going?

Weird?  I know, but this is how it happened.  Please tell me you have disjointed, disconnected thoughts like this…please?

So, how can we use our internal GPS to find ourselves and get where we are going?

As I sat up and thought about that, I said to myself, ‘Self, seems like that first satellite that tracks our life would be the satellite of Values.’  Picture a broad circle – your life exists within that circle.  Rarely do we make conscious choices that take us beyond that circle and if we do, we either:

• a) adjust our circle of Values to include our new position
• or b) go running like hell back into the circle. 

But, it’s a large circle.  How do we know where in the circle we are?

How about satellite 2 – Passion.  You know people who are operating without sat2 - these people are running all around circle 1 trying to find themselves.  You also know people who have the sat2 of Passion and maybe they aren’t where they want to be, but they have it narrowed down to a small space – or subset.  It’s not uncommon for people to re-evaluate their Passions and adjust sat2.  It is a common thought, and one that I agree with, that life happens in cycles – many have suggested 7 years for a full cycle (3.5 years for a half-cycle).  In fact, I hope with LifeMAPP to allow members to log their own ‘cycle’ with a 1-minute drill whereby rating their energy, mood and external events each day.  I’ll bet we’d be surprised to see our own natural cycles of up and down.  Then, we would just do what soothsayers, palmreaders and other mystics have been saying since the dawn of time: avoid conflict during the ebbs and tackle your toughest challenges during the flow.  Really, just a common sense approach, but haven’t you felt at times like you were chasing the new sale or pushing that new design or asking for a raise when the tide was out and, of course, your actions were met with bad results.  I digress, but the point is, life is a cycle and we all naturally stop and re-evaluate our passions every once in a while (maybe 7 or 3.5 years, maybe not).  So, get into the Passion zone – life is better there.

How about satellite 3? We could make this many things, but the thought that hit me was Experiences.  How else can you dial in on your zone of Passion?  It is our life experiences and, hopefully, the experiences of others that help us to know which Passions to pursue – which Passions will offer up the greatest reward both to our self and to the greater cause of contributing to society.

If you’re in this phase, you know it.  You are being rewarded for your Values and Passions.  People with ‘like-values’ will appreciate your Passion and will be moved by the Experience you give them enough to reward you – either financially, emotionally, spiritually and, well, let’s leave physically out of this equation – that’s not a picture I want to paint – oops, too late.

This is where leadership and legacy happens.  Those are the 2 things I am passionate about.  This is what LifeMAPP is about.  I hope to lead others, yes, even you to this point if you are not already.  I hope this gives you something to think about.  I know it helped me to forget about the pain enough to live on and ride again tomorrow – and that’s not all bad.

Author | Dave Darby

Dave Darby is a husband, father of 5, son, entrepreneur, speaker and well, a renaissance man who frequently needs to dump his brain on thoughts about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.