Not Your Mama's Vision Board

I love to plan. I always have. When I was in middle school, I was planning what classes I might want to take in high school. When I was in high school, I not only dreamt of my potential future aspirations, but I backwards planned what college courses and tasks I’d need to complete to meet the requirements for said goals. Even my Strengths Finder 2.0 Report classified my number one theme as “Futuristic” which was not a surprise. I relish thinking and planning for the future. So when I was introduced to a “career map” soon after I commissioned, I was like, “YES!”

I had never seen anything so simple and logical in relation to time. My time. For once, I could sequentially see my various professional and personal requirements, goals, and achievements on one piece of paper. I could pencil in different goals at different stages of my career. This was not your mama’s vision board with pretty pictures of people throwing money in the air, little maps of Europe and airplanes, or words of proverbial mantras. This was a brass-tax map with a “x” and a “y” axis. A map that I got to write and edit. I was able to write my own story….my own adventure in a time-bound manner.

Across all sectors of life, things are getting faster. The transferring of money, knowledge, and communication only takes a few clicks. The continual development of AI only adds to a professional sense of urgency as we compete for power and resources. As a member of a team or as individuals, we need to keep our eyes, ears, and hearts open to unforeseen opportunities. But being aware of our surroundings is only the first part of meeting the objective. We must actually be prepared to capitalize on those opportunities. 

I love the quote, “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” Opportunities can definitely come quickly in the military and we often don’t even know what they are. One minute you’re conducting a group run or leading a team through some training drills, and the next, your commander is looking for a volunteer to lead  civilians through a global pandemic initiative or to back-fill an officer billet down range for six months with only seven days to get there. If we hesitate to make a decision or are unable to meet the requirements of such opportunities as they arise, we could live in regret and that’s no way to live. If we are to excel, we must be prepared. A goal without a plan is just a dream. A career map isn’t a dream or a vision board. It is an actual mechanism to see the possible and the time needed to get there. It allows the author to objectively see what needs to be completed in order to have all the options on the table.

During one of my initial meetings with my company grade officers, I made all of them update a career map template. All of them remarked how they wished they had access to this when they first joined. They remarked how it put everything in perspective. I couldn’t agree more. Heck, I wish I had access to such a tool when I was in high school! 

Over fifteen years later from when I was first introduced to this “career map”, I still make edits to my goals and the steps needed to get there. If I want to reach a certain rank, I must complete x, y, and z. If I want to become a project manager when I transition, I should complete a, b, c while in the last three years of service. If I want to visit Guam with my family in four years, I need to save this amount of money. When I see time displayed in a linear fashion, it motivates me to fill in the time blocks with meaningful content so as not to waste the one thing that we never get back — time.

To some people, this idea of planning so far ahead might take the magic out of life. To others, seeing one’s career or, even, life across a series of 50 excel columns can be boring, sobering, or unsexy. To me, it’s empowering! I get to set the course. I get to make the adjustments when environmental, work, or political variables change. Time moves forward whether we want it to or not. What we do with that time is up to us. We must seize the opportunities of life when they are presented. Failure to do so could result in an uncharted map or life unlived.