I’ll always remember that day. Standing by the side of the road with my thumb out, near the South-bound entrance ramp to Interstate 81 in central Virginia. It was the beginning of a grand adventure for my buddy and me to hitchhike from VA to Sarasota Florida before the start of our senior year of college.
Rain was falling in torrents and the wind was gusting. The calendar declared August, but it felt more like a cold day in April as we stood there shivering, waiting for our first ride. However cold we were on the outside though; in our minds we held visions of the warm sunshine and white sand beaches of Florida’s gulf coast.
Steadfast with the vision; Flexible with the details
Several hours later we experienced the first bit of humanity as the brake lights on a beat up, blue Ford Maverick pull lit up when it’s driver pulled off the road in front of us. As we ran to the car, past the Grateful Dead bumper sticker and fogged up windows, we barely noticed the sweet, hazy cloud emanating from inside the car or considered the driver’s frame of mind as we opened the car door. Into the backseat we crawled, oh so grateful for a warm place to sit down. Nor were we super attached to exactly where he was going. We knew wanted to go South, and he was going, well, South…ish. That was good enough for us.
After five uneventful hours we parted ways in Chattanooga Tennessee. It wasn’t the route, we had planned to take but we had our hearts and minds oriented to Sarasota and we knew we would get there somehow and in some way. The exact route was a negotiable and emerging detail.
Orienting, to slightly paraphrase a dictionary definition I read recently, is to position or align something relative with some fixed point. So, whether hitchhiking or navigating a life or business journey, the practice of orienting ourselves to a vivid and inspiring image is a powerful tool to help us move toward the results we want to create in the world. Orienting is much more than visualizing though. It’s setting our sights and aligning our actions toward a desired future or outcome. What happens when we integrate the practice of orienting is described in the book “Presence Based Coaching”, by author Doug Silsbee who says that when we orient toward some fixed frame of reference, we [intentionally bring] resources into our field of awareness that encourage greater creativity and new ideas to emerge. By orienting, we evoke greater resourcefulness in ourselves and in [those around us].
When we are regularly orienting we can detach from the details of the how while continuing to anchor in the what. Paradoxically perhaps, the how often becomes apparent when we’re not trying so hard to think our way to a solution and focus instead on simply expanding our field of awareness. The result as Silsbee notes, is greater creativity and access to new ideas.
To what are you orienting?
What are you holding in your “field of awareness”? Are you oriented toward your problems or perceived shortcomings, or are you oriented toward an inspiring vision of your ideal self? Your customers’ cares and concerns? Or perhaps a sense of purpose, or an inspiring picture of what you want to create? Personally, I routinely take a few minutes throughout my day to orient to how I want to show up for my clients. I’ll orient to being a stand for the things they want to accomplish through their work with me and to extending unconditional love. I also orient to being fully present with a client in a particular moment and among other things I orient to my 2025 vision several times per week. As I expand my field of awareness in these areas, I’ve found my resourcefulness expands and new ideas do emerge.
Thank you, for reading. If you enjoyed this, please share it with someone else you think might also enjoy it. If you’d like some support with beginning your own practice of orienting, please reach out. I’d love to connect with you.
-Keith