How to avoid ending up in the sidings of life

There are certain moments in one's life that act as switches or points on a railway track. When you reach one of them, depending on how you respond you will either stay on the track you were on; or be switched by the points to another line. Sometimes when you get to the next point or moment, you are switch back and other times you continue to be diverted.

Now there's nothing wrong with diversions, if your purpose is to see as much of the countryside as possible, allowing yourself to be taken on a scenic route to nowhere in particular is fabulous. However if you would prefer to arrive at a particular destination (aka success city) at a specific arrival time (by the time you are x), it's a different story. Many people, (and according to Napoleon Hill, who studied the behaviour of highly successful people; as many as 95% of people) choose to set off in life without a particular destination in mind. Worse still they haven't decided that their objective is to enjoy the journey, so they get the worst of both worlds. Not having anywhere specific to go AND not enjoying the scenery.

Clearly everyone's destination in life is ultimately the last terminal, in other words we all die. However, just imagine you were to take a train to a major transport terminal such as Waterloo, Paris, New York or Edinburgh and rather than stopping in the nice station with lots of lovely shops and facilities, the train continued past the station and came to a stop in the dead-end siding in front of the buffers to let you off. No doubt you would feel pretty hard done by. You would probably want to see the station manager so that you could put in a complaint. Naturally, you would confront the station officials. You would be just getting into your stride, ready to demand all sorts of compensation for the inconvenience, when the station manager points out that your ticket actually said "end of the line" rather than Waterloo station , Paris station , New York station or Edinburgh station and indeed you had been taken to exactly where you had asked to go!

Not setting yourself a definite goal or chief aim in life is akin to going into the ticket office to purchase a ticket and simply asking for “a ticket to the end of the line” because you assume that as the final station is the last stop you will arrive at the fabulous station concourse. The ticket officer should know that what you actually mean is the flashy new station complex, rather than literally the end of the line a.k.a. the buffers in the siding.

The moments that act as switches in our lives fall into seven categories:

1. Moments of self-discovery, rebirth, awakening: these are moments where you identify your higher purpose or you experience a sudden knowing of who you truly are. Often such moments are associated with spiritual awakening
   
2. Moments of clarity, perception: these moments are to do with finding your passion and/or identifying your life's work/ purpose.
   
3. Moments of darkest despair: these moments are associated with tragedy, loss and grief. This is not necessarily the loss of a person; it could be the loss of an opportunity, income, status, self belief etc
   
4. Moments of action: monumental decisions and actions taken as a consequence
   
5. Moments of passion and connection: these moments are associated with great loves, significant meaningful relationships, connecting with the people who have a significant impact on your life
   
6. Moments of persistence: choosing not to give up
   
7. Moments of perfect contentment: these moments are connected to achievement, recognition, reaching goals.

Not having a goal, a defined purpose which is specific in terms of what you wish to achieve, means that not only do you not know where you are going you are also unclear about why you are even on the journey. By setting yourself a specific purpose for your life's journey you will insure that you: either really enjoy the scenery, taking in every experience and using it to decide how you approach the next set of points in response to the moments in your life. Or you stay on track; your definite chief aim acting as a signal box keeping the points switched in the right direction, unperturbed by the moments in your life. Hence you arrive on time at your shiny new, all singing, all dancing, destination terminal where you can disembark, relax and enjoy the facilities.

Do you have a definite chief aim for your life or are you just here to enjoy the scenery? What is your story behind your moments? Please share your thoughts and comments so others can learn from your experiences.