Alternate Routes

Have you ever ignored your car navigation alternate route suggestion, thinking, you know the better route? How did that turn out? Recently for me, it resulted in getting stuck in a major traffic back up on the I-495 Beltway traveling from College Park Maryland across the American Legion Bridge over the Potomac River towards home in Virginia. It was a late evening after attending an enjoyable theatre performance of the musical Chicago by the incredibly talented performers from Young Artists of America (YAA). The last thing I was expecting was a major rush hour level traffic backup across the bridge. My navigation was trying to warn me and provide a recommended alternate route, but I ignored it, taking the route I knew and trusted, not realizing that the timing was not good for my regular route. Lesson learned, hopefully.

This theme of alternate routes has come up often lately for me, both physically and metaphorically. I usually take the subway (Metro) to work in Washington DC, but a few days recently due to other appointments during the workday, I drove into DC. I normally like the route that takes me across the Theodore Roosevelt (TR) Bridge into Washington DC because of the skyline view of the Potomac River, Kennedy Center, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and Capitol Building. It is such an inspiring view to start my day. But during rush hour, to drive that route on the toll road can be as high as $30+ one way! The cost of that route at that time is not ideal. It doesn’t mean I can never take that route again. It means that at that given point in time, it wasn’t the best route for me to my destination due to the high costs. There were alternative routes I could take for less cost that still got me to my destination on time. And on those days I chose to drive the George Washington (GW) Memorial Parkway, which provided me with an equally inspiring view of the Potomac River, Georgetown, and the Washington Monument from a different angle and perspective.

As I contemplated these route changes, I realized I have also been looking at alternate routes for how I’m building and growing my coaching business. As followers and readers of my newsletters, each of you have a front row seat of my own career and life transformation journey. It is why my focus for coaching is career and life transition and reinvention. I do that coaching work because I’ve lived it and I’m living it now too. And sometimes during transition in our journeys we have to evaluate if we are taking the best route at that time for ourselves or if other alternative routes are better at this point in time. Again, it doesn’t mean that a preferred route or otherwise ideal route with benefits can’t be used ever again. It may just mean that the timing now is best for an alternative route to a particular destination or goal, and in the future, when the timing is right again, you may go back to the previous route. A reminder that we don’t have to always have the answers by ourselves. Like my car navigation the other night giving me an alternative route to avoid delays, there are warning signs and clues and assistance that can help advise us when it’s right to take an alternate route in our work and journey towards our goals. This has helped me tremendously in my own career and life transition journey in progress as I listen and look for those navigation notifications and recommendations for alternate routes.

As always, I encourage you to reflect on your own stories and relationship with alternate routes. When have you found yourself ignoring the signs and recommendations to take an alternate route, either physically or metaphorically? What were the results and lessons learned? What behavior changes resulted from those experiences with alternate routes and what were any positive outcomes? How might you identify and assess if alternate routes are better at a given time? What advisement or navigation resources may help you determine if you are on the best route at this time for you?

Now, it’s not like navigation doesn’t sometimes get it wrong. But the alternate routes are recommended based on the best knowledge the source has at any given time. Unexpected things come up or some information may be missing that results in alternate routes that still aren’t the best route. I say this to remind myself and all of us, that any route requires us to be attentive to our surroundings and assess the situation to determine if it is indeed still the best route. Sometimes it is and we continue on that route and sometimes unexpected things happen and another alternate route is required. My point being, don’t set cruise control for the whole trip and not pay attention to the surroundings and the route and signs that may indicate the need to change routes. Otherwise, you may wind up with a much more expensive route similar to the $30+ toll route or stuck in a major traffic backup that delays you in reaching your destination. And you deserve the best route on your journey to your goals because as always, Your Story Matters. Hi