Steering on Your Path

“I just did my first mini-article for Elle!” Jessi Butterfield-McKnight

Steering on Your Path

“I just did my first mini-article for Elle!  I’ll email it to you.”  The text from my daughter Jessi read.

“Wow!”  I shot back.

I am wowed by how far she’s come.  How hard she’s worked.

She started as a model just seven years ago and during her first few months was called for one photo shoot in particular.  Everyone had arrived, ready to work, with the exception of the makeup artist.  The director gathered everyone around and said, “I guess we’ll have to cancel the shoot because the makeup artist didn’t show.”

“I can do that!”  Jessi said.

And, she did!  It turned out to be a sharp turn in her life, a pivot point.  She had a clear vision of where she was going in fashion, but at that moment she took a detour that allowed her to accelerate toward her ultimate destination, but on a slightly different path.

Many of us create a plan for lives, see only one path, and when we hit a detour, or make a wrong turn; we believe that all is lost. But, Jessi has shown this doesn’t need to be the case.  As I’ve watched her created her business I’ve learned a new, better way to approach business and life.

First, she built her future in her mind.  She made a plan. She knew she wanted to be in fashion and created her path in detail.  She even got her degree in English from Westminster College knowing that fashion models generally don’t have long careers.  A degree in English would allow her to write for a fashion magazine when she could no longer model.

Second, when she arrived in New York City she started in the most humble of circumstances, slept on lots of couches and lived out of a suitcase.  She measured each step by seeing each stride forward as a victory.  Measuring her progression helped her through lots of disappointments and caused her to keep searching for ways around the obstacles she encountered.

Third, Jessi learned a lot with every step she took.  Sometimes it was a step forward.  Sometimes it was seemingly a step back or to the side.  She kept her focus on learning.  The more she learned, the more she understood there was more she didn’t know, so she just kept learning what she needed to know.  She got better and better and discovered this powerful “process of steering.”

Understanding that this three-step-feedback-loop is a process of steering her life and business made it possible for Jessi to learn when and if it was time to pivot or persevere on her current path.  It allowed her to get past disappointments and use what she was learning to accelerate toward her clear vision.  She didn’t give up and stayed focused on her destination.

You and I can do the same thing.  We can create an enviable life or a world changing business.  To achieve our vision we can employ the principle of steering to create a plan, measure progress, and learn constantly so we can fine tune what we’re doing or change our paths slightly while keeping focused on our desired destination.