I Forgot the Anchor!
By: David Freund, Chief Leadership Officer

It was a mid-June day and it was quite windy.  We had just installed all the floorboards in our old wooden boat and decided to launch her at the marina and make the short mile-long ride to my Dad’s house down the lake. When we arrived at the ramp, the Marina owner questioned whether it was a good idea for us to launch the boat on such a windy day. The waves were around three feet but since our boat was more than capable of handling water like that we pushed on and launched the boat. The engine started up without any issues, I backed the boat away from the dock and headed out into the lake.

I was really enjoying how well the boat handled the waves. With each wave, the spray would launch off the bow with an impressive display. A few minutes later I tried to slow the boat down and quickly realized that my throttle cable had frozen and I couldn’t slow the boat down. Feeling confident that I could fix the frozen cable I turned off the ignition. That’s when I realized how foolish I was. Not only had I not brought any tools along to fix the cable, but I had also forgotten to put the anchor in the boat. I was set adrift in very rough water, jagged rocks awaited me, and I had no way to hold the boat in position. No way to stay put until help could arrive.

Life is filled with rough days and stormy seas. Have you thought about how you will maintain position when storms push you around? Have you established anchors in your life? If not, you will be in the same situation I was on that mid-June day 20 years ago. Set adrift, headed toward rocks with little hope.

It doesn’t have to be like that. You can build anchors in your life to help you hold on when the storms arrive and be assured they will be there to support you. It all starts with knowing your WHY, or Purpose. Do you know why you are here? Have you discovered your purpose? This will be your inner compass. Your way of knowing the direction you need to head. This will be a good start, but it is just a start. Just as an anchor is useless without a good rope, a clevis and the right type of cleat, you will need to build the right support around your why.

Since I like to keep these weekly messages brief, I encourage you to join Marisa and I on The Next Page podcast as we look at a step-by-step plan to make sure you can stay anchored as you face the storms of life.

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