“Would you please tell me,” said Alice to the cat, “which way should I go from here?”

“That all depends,” said the cat “on where you want to get.”

“I don’t much care where,” said Alice

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the cat.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

I recently read this and it was quickly followed up with the question ‘what direction are you heading in?’ My first instinct was that I felt like Alice – except I realised that, actually, I did care. I just didn’t know. 

While I can tell you day-to-day, and possibly even week-to-week, what I need to achieve and how I plan to do it, the overall question for life really threw me.

This all happened in the safe environment of our Resilience Programme, which I was lucky enough to participate in. It meant I wasn’t asked the question and sent off to try and uncover the deep and meaningful answer myself. Needless to say I was grateful for that.

Even though I see myself as quite a confident, level-headed, driven person, I have rarely stopped to consider what I am driving myself to, or from.

And because of this experience it is a question I want to ask others. Not to know the answer particularly, but to know if it is something that they have considered. So I ask you, do you know what direction you are heading in?

It’s amazing what discovering the true answer to this question does. It realigns everything and helps you re-evaluate what’s most important to you – or at least it did for me. It has also given me a new frame of mind to refocus myself in the workplace, which has proved extremely productive. Stephanie Morgan previously wrote a great blog on establishing your values, which certainly helped me in this process.

So, ask yourself the question and take time out to really consider it. You’ll be glad you did.