Walking in circles

WALKING IN CIRCLES

Dr. Jan Souman, of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, studied what happens to us when we have no map, no compass, no way to determine landmarks. I’m not talking about a metaphor—he researched what happens to people lost in the woods or stumbling around the Sahara, with no north star, no setting sun to guide them.

It turns out we walk in circles. Try as we might to walk in a straight line, to get out of the forest or the desert, we end up back where we started. Our instincts aren’t enough. In the words of Dr. Souman, “Don’t trust your senses because even though you might think you are walking in a straight line when you’re not.”

Human nature is to need a map. A map, written by you, of the things you want to accomplish in life. Without a map, or a plan, or goals, you’re set adrift, life happens to you, not the other way around.   I saw a movie once, about the South Pacific, a line from the movie was, “ You eat life, or life eat you”. Set goals, create a map, that’s how you get things done.