Yesterday, my wife and I went on a walk through our neighborhood. And we took our dogs. First, I need to explain—these are really my wife’s dogs. If they were my dogs, please know that they would be German Shepherds or perhaps something like a Newfoundland; certainly something larger than “mini-Golden Doodles.” But, nevertheless, we have two dogs under twenty pounds each. And yet they make more noise than an entire kennel of canines.

Because of this, we walk at odd hours to avoid people, squirrels, deer, other dogs, and even leaves—anything that will set our dogs off and distract them because distraction means pulling, barking, and general tumult.

Despite this, both dogs ended up tangled in leashes and needing consistent pulling, tugging, and realignment throughout the walk. At one point, my wife looked at me smiling and said, “they just seem to go in whatever direction they are looking.”

And all I could say was “wow—how true.” How true indeed. How true for all of us. The principle is clear—we go in whatever direction we are facing. This is why direction matters, and why vision is so important. Dogs are simply following their natural instinct while we are given a choice: we can choose which direction we face.

And we can encourage others to do so as well. Consider how often we find ourselves, at the end of a week, saying “where did the week go? Why didn’t I make the progress I intended?” We are quick to blame the email inbox, the incessant meetings, and the speed of life, when really it is about our choice of the direction we are facing.

The reason we start with growth mindset when teaching entrepreneurship is because growth mindset is rooted in directional growth which is rooted in vision. This is why we help students develop their personal vision alongside their core values and why we believe so strongly in creating strong systems of goal setting and habit formation. Our hours make up our days which make up our weeks which make up our months which make up the years of our life, and the direction we are facing at each point dictates the ultimate path we travel.

Click here to listen to my podcast that goes more in-depth on this topic

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