What's your goal? Lessons from a game drive.

Have you ever felt blasé after an achievement/milestone you had been relentlessly pursuing?

"Is this it?" That would generally be me after I had worried, frustrated and pushed myself and other people around me. At some point, it was being in an aeroplane. Another case in point was getting an educational qualification, or meeting a (now over-glorified) certain person. I was not happy with how I felt afterwards. It felt as though I had just successfully gone on a wild-goose chase.

Earlier this year, I was on a safari. A safari that changed my approach to the way I work towards my goals. While there, i saw a great number of bucks, wildebeest and many species of birds. But, ofcourse, that's not what I wanted to see. i wanted to see our Big 5. This meant us driving into the thicker bushes. The road was rough, bumpy and unclear. On a couple of occasions, I really felt like we were taking chances with our safety. These are W-I-L-D animals for crying out loud. Fine, maybe I was being dramatic, but, was three quarters of the bus also dramatic? They agreed with me! It was just the driver and a few 'attention-seeking' wild boys who I believed they thought this was a mere cat and mouse chase.

"Look to your right!" exclaimed the overzealous driver, while many of us actually heard, "Go down!" There he was, Mr 'lion king' himself, just about 10 metres away from us. Finally, what we wanted to see! It was nice, but actually, not as exciting as I thought it would be. After ten minutes of watching the lazy lion scouting the scene, we drove off. What I thought would be most exciting, was eventually, just another forgettable experience. As we drove back that chilly morning to our place of residence, the driver suddenly took a sharp turn which got us worried. The speed at which he drove at had us constantly checking whether we were in danger.He wouldn't listen let alone respond to our concerns or queries. That three minute drive felt like eternity when we eventually slowed down to two other vans ahead of us with other tourists gazing in the thick thicket with two giraffes.

"Look to your right," he said, calmly this time. I could not see what we were expected to see. After squinting a bit, my eyes started seeing things. A goldish thicket shaped in the mane of a lion; or was it a lion? After what seemed like 20 minutes of watching another lazy lion, an unexpected experience stuck with me till today. That one lion, with 2 other lionesses, in the speed of lightning, pounced on poor giraffe. A whole 5 meters-tall giraffe grounded by 1 metre-tall lions (and lionesses), in literally no time! I watched this in awe. Actually, I wanted to see our Big 5... in action!

Today, I remember this unexpected experience not only for what it was, but what I could learn from it.

1. There are many opportunities to pursue (just like many animals to see at a safari) always focus on a select few...or one for that matter. It might be worth more than seeing anything and everything.
2. In pursuing these select opportunities, you might go through "rough, bumpy and unclear" roads, take the chance.
3. You may feel like turning back, the noise around may agree with you that it is ideal to. It pays being the "overzealous" driver or the "attention seeker" labelled pioneer. You will find what you pursue.
4. When experience says "look to your right," you might be overwhelmed with fear that you look down. Silence the doubt and fear that has you hearing other things. Look in the right direction.
5. One of my favorite lessons: Mr "lion king" was not about to hunt the birds around it or small animals in that area. They were not worth his energy. Some meals take more energy to prepare than the energy they give.
6. When you feel the need to take a detour, trust your intuition. When approaching your moment, slow down, with caution. be calm and focus ("squint your eyes")
7. Take your time. People watching may feel like you are taking too long to make your mark (like you might feel i took long to make my point :) They don't know what strategy you are putting in place, or whether your tag team partners are also ready. Let them watch, while you strategise. Focus on your mission.
8. Bonus lesson: It's not about how small you are, but how big your pride of lions (team) can tackle. Similarly, if you aimed to tackle one giraffe, even though there are two. You are likelier to succeed when you collaborate to tackle one giraffe at a time.

Earlier this year, I was on a safari. A safari that changed my approach to the way I work towards my goals. I hope you also learnt something from our safari together. All the best for your next hunt!

Andrew Tsuro, DTM

[email protected]

www.andrewtsuro.com