TRACTION

One of the most limiting factors in “becoming all that we can be” is failing to get TRACTION … failing to be able to GRASP and DIG IN on whatever we’re going to become and wherever it is we’re going to go. Life just seems so nebulously “ungraspable” …

Captain Ahab finds himself in this predicament sailing the seven seas in search of Moby Dick. Here he is talking to the carpenter on his ship, the Pequod:

“This is a cogent vice thou hast here, carpenter;

let me feel its grip once …

I like a good grip;

I like to feel something in this slippery world that can hold, man.”

Moby Dick, Herman Melville

However, before we can get a good “grip” and get real traction, we need to get some very big hurdles out of the way, like…

• UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS
• UNFOUNDED ASSUMPTIONS
• UNWARRANTED ENTITLEMENTS
• UNWORKABLE ATTITUDES:
  • “I’d be just FINE if everybody would just leave me the heck alone!”

“What about my arrogance? My incompetence? Impatience, ignorance? You forget there’s a whole boatload of baggage I’ll be bringing along with me to the job.”

Johnny Mustard, Old’s Cool

Once we get the baggage out of the way and open ourselves to new possibilities, elements that could help “pave the way”, or at least make navigation more “tractionable”, can become much more accessible and effective. There are two global components to consider: Behavioral / Personal and Societal / Environmental. Here’s a beginning list to consider:

• HEALTH and WELLBEING
  • Adequate SLEEP / REST
  • Vitalizing FOOD / NUTRITION
  • Enlivening EXERCISE
  • Absence of ALCOHOL & DRUGS
• NAVIGABILITY “INFRASTRUCTURE”
  • PERSONAL SPACE /\ ANCHORING /\ SENSE OF HOME
  • Ability to WALK / RUN / CLIMB / GATHER and CARRY
  • Ability to READ / WRITE / COMMUNICATE
  • Access to RELIABLE TRANSPORTATION
  • HAVING DIRECTION / Targetable Destination(s)
    • PURPOSE / MISSION / PASSION / ASPIRATION
  • CERTIFICATION: GED / Trade License / H.S. +/- College Diploma
  • TRACK RECORD / EXPERIENCE
  • CULTURAL CAPITAL (Sociability, “Standing”, Forthrightness)
• SKILLS
  • HARD SKILLS
    • READING / MARKETABLE KNOWLEDGE
    • MATH
    • COMPUTER SKILLS
    • HANDLING TOOLS / CRAFTSMANSHIP
      • Taking PRIDE in what you do and how you do it
    • REASONING / PROBLEM SOLVING
  • SOFT SKILLS
    • PUNCTUALITY
    • DILIGENCE: Making WISE CHOICES / TRUSTWORTHY
      • Strategic Use of UNSCHEDULED TIME
    • ANGER MANAGEMENT / APPROACHABILITY / NON-THREATENING
    • CURIOSITY / ADVENTUROUSNESS
    • JUDGMENT
    • SELF CONFIDENCE / SENSE OF “AGENCY”
• TALENT
• Access to CONNECTABLE OTHERS
  • Family / Kinship
  • Mentors
  • Fellow Travelers / Compatriots [Someone “Has your back”]
  • Professionals of any and all kinds
• ROLE MODELS
• LEVERAGE
  • Disposable Income / SOLVENCY
  • Positive Credit Rating
  • RESOURCEFULNESS
  • LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
  • All of the above!

PHYSICAL PLACEMENT of ourselves in “Generative” environments on a “Generative” Path and SHOWING UP in fertile environments of possibility is important … like in a SCHOOL, CHURCH, BUSINESS, LIBRARY, CIVIC ORGANIZATION, etc. … where there are critical masses of people (yes, also in BOOKS!) who set HIGH STANDARDS, who CARE about other people, CARE about what they do and how they do it, and CARE about making the world a better place for all.

MENTAL PLACEMENT, along with PHYSICAL PLACEMENT, is critical … taking pains to expose ourselves to a “Generative” environment, not only for learning but for positive reinforcement, visioning and legitimizing all-out efforts toward auspicious outcomes.

The trump card in all of this, of course, is ENTHUSIASM driven by an indelible DREAM, MISSION, ASPIRATION – underpinned with absolute COMMITMENT … all ELSE be anathematized! All the other stuff needed will Flow (see Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi) in a natural progression, with a generous apportionment of FIVE HAND NAVIGATION (https://ertiaunlimited.com/?s=Five+Handed+Navigation) to assure a successful journey.

FINAL WORD

PLANNING and PREPARATION constitute trump card #2: Doing the BACKGROUND RESEARCH, and lay down TRACTIONABLE bricks in the road, STARTING EARLY, doing first next whatever is first next, and PERSISTING. ^.Quartermaster