Is it time to recalibrate your pandemic professional trajectory speed? So you are proactive and anticipatory of where you need to go, today, tomorrow and moving forward.
Today, let’s discuss lessons learned from the movie, “The Martian,” by Andy Weir in 2011.
First, consider what your professional trajectory speed looks like today.
You know it. I know it. This year just isn’t exactly going the way we all envisioned it. Plus, there is no magic algorithm for the mythology of virtual work-real life balance. Six months ago you embraced the pandemic scenario with a mix of skepticism, energy and the need to master technology. Now, six months later, some of you are overwhelmed and exhausted with no immediate solution in sight. You feel left behind and abandoned by professional trajectory detours which impact your productivity and mindset.
Well, in an emergency return trip back to Earth from a truncated project on Mars, things didn’t exactly go the way The Martian’s hero Mark Watney envisioned it, either. Spoiler alert here. Through a series of miscommunication and misassumptions, his crew on the Hermes spacecraft abandons him on Mars. Not exactly the virtual work environment he anticipated, either.
Like you, our hero Mark Watney starts start off enthusiastically. Doing the science, analyzing the data, solving one problem at a time. Because there really is no other option, is there? But there are disastrous setbacks to his strategy and implementation. Until his crew on the Hermes spacecraft take a huge risk, together. Enlisting multiple strategic allies back on Earth. People who are more co-invested in Mark Watney’s successful return home, than in preserving the success their own careers.
Next, figure out just what professional trajectory speed you need to get to where you really need to be.
Another spoiler alert. The dramatic rescue of Mark Watney from Mars via another Mars Ascent Vehicle focuses on both he and the crew of the Hermes doing something that never has been attempted before. Ever. Kind of like what you are doing right now. Both the Hermes crew and Mark slow down their mutual approach trajectories. So the Hermes can successfully intercept Mark as the space craft does a fly by Mars. And everyone can return home, together.
Together, they slow down. Because the mission does not go the way it is planned. Neither does the rescue. As a result of their actions, decisions, courage and mindset, the future of global space programs is forever changed.
Because they slow down. To get to where they really need to go. Together.
My advice? Instead of focusing on yesterday’s professional trajectory, slow down. Otherwise you overlook opportunities afforded you when you remain invested in someone else’s idea of what you should be doing.
Because you are continuously writing your own professional playbook. And, in fact, you have been re-authoring your professional trajectory throughout this year. Take the time to finally own it. And get to where you really need to go, tomorrow and moving forward. When you believe in your own professional trajectory, so does everyone else. Let’s get to work on creating your own professional playbook. Contact me here for a complementary discovery call.
My One Millimeter Mindset™ virtual and in-person keynotes, workshops, coaching and mastermind programs translate across strategic communication and collaboration disconnects between people and professional disciplines. Build trust. Optimize the strategic business and human capital value of what you continuously deliver to your organization’s table. Let’s get to where you need to go. Together. One millimeter at a time. My playbook of communication tools and methods, Do YOU Mean Business? is available on Amazon.com.
Image source: Adobe Stock
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