Start with the end in mind
If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know if you get there?
If you’ve had me as an instructor, this isn’t the first time you’ve heard that. It bears repeating because in life – as in communication – it’s all about your destination.
Keeping your thoughts and actions zeroed in on an intentional destination makes the difference between ending up where you want to be or floundering. Destination thinking offers immediate, tangible benefits:
- It allows you to sort what’s best from what’s possible. You’re going to face countless choices and opportunities in life. In their book, Living Forward, authors Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy teach that “Unless we have a destination in mind, it’s tough to separate the opportunities from the distractions.”
- It provides you with a sense of purpose during difficult circumstances. Hyatt and Harkavy advise that having “a larger story” in mind “provide[s] meaning to life’s smaller dramas.”
- It helps you avoid tactical errors. Weighing all your choices in consideration of your goals keeps you on the right path and minimizes costly, time-wasting, regrettable detours.
Destination thinking also leads savvy communicators to begin by identifying where they want their audience to go and what they want that audience to do with a message. Once that objective is in mind, key talking points can be strategized to motivate the desired outcome.
Next time you have a writing assignment or a message to communicate try this:
- First, write what you want your audience to do with your message. Just get everything down on the page.
- Strategize two to three key talking points supporting your desired outcome.
- Organize what you’ve written.
- Go back to the introduction and capture the audience’s attention…be creative!
- Review. Rewrite. Edit. Do it again.
- Proof. Slowly. Aloud. Do it again.
I’m reminded of the spiritual impact of destination thinking each day I sit in my office. Three short years ago, the late Dr. Doug Trouten had my office. He passed away too young and too fast from pancreatic cancer. His name tag is still stuck on my bookcase reminding me of the last thing he ever said to me. He laughed and told me that we all have an expiration date – but that his was closer.
Psalm 90:12 encourages us to remember how short our lives are, so that we may become wise. Fixing our thoughts on our inevitable destination helps us sift through distractions and focus on our ultimate purpose of loving God and others well and communicating His message clearly.
Wendi L. Marshall, MBC
Visiting Instructor, Department of Communication
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