Are you flying your plane into an active volcano? 6 questions to ask yourself.

We all want to succeed. Most of us make plans and set goals. We keep busy with work and other commitments. We seek to deliver value to our companies, customers, and clients. We try to meet or exceed the expectations of our bosses and approach our lives with good intentions. We work hard. We check emails when we shouldn't and take calls when we wish he didn't need to. But is it enough to just keep turning the proverbial crank? Where are we headed? Are we on the right course? I recently reread a talk delivered by a former Lufthansa airline pilot entitled "A Matter of a Few Degrees."

"The difference between happiness and misery … often comes down to an error of only a few degrees." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"In 1979 a large passenger jet with 257 people on board left New Zealand for a sightseeing flight to Antarctica and back. Unknown to the pilots, however, someone had modified the flight coordinates by a mere two degrees. This error placed the aircraft 28 miles (45 km) to the east of where the pilots assumed they were. As they approached Antarctica, the pilots descended to a lower altitude to give the passengers a better look at the landscape. Although both were experienced pilots, neither had made this particular flight before, and they had no way of knowing that the incorrect coordinates had placed them directly in the path of Mount Erebus, an active volcano that rises from the frozen landscape to a height of more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m).

As the pilots flew onward, the white of the snow and ice covering the volcano blended with the white of the clouds above, making it appear as though they were flying over flat ground. By the time the instruments sounded the warning that the ground was rising fast toward them, it was too late. The airplane crashed into the side of the volcano, killing everyone on board.

It was a terrible tragedy brought on by a minor error?—a matter of only a few degrees."

As I reflect on my own life (and career) the story of the Mt Erebus crash serves as an important reminder that it is not enough to be moving very quickly in what I assume to be the right direction. I must make deliberate choices about the course I am on, and not be afraid to take steps necessary to get back on track if I'm heading the wrong direction -- otherwise, I risk catastrophe. It is much easier to make a small course correction at the beginning of a journey, than to course correct after years and years of concerted effort headed in the wrong direction.

I'm also have to regularly remind myself that I don't have to be TOO far off target for the difference to be devestating.

We must each take stock of where we are headed. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to make sure you aren't on a collision course with your own personal volcano:

• What do you hope to have learned (or accomplished) in 10 years time? Will your current job afford you the opportunities to grow and achieve it?
• Are you satisfied and fulfilled with the balance you have among your personal and professional pursuits?
• Are you making deliberate choices about how your are spending your time each day? On the projects you are pursuing? On the meetings you are attending?
• How do your loved ones feel about the choices you are making about how you are investing your time?
• How do you feel about how your loved ones feel?
• What would you obituary say if it were written today? (What isn't in there that should be? What are you doing to change that?)

Note: This talk was given as part of a religious service, and so it is fair to state that the conclusions of the address were related to life more broadly, and the insights provided were through a more eternal and spiritual perspective. But I find this temporal application equally valid and helpful.