Distracted driving is an epidemic in America . One extensive US Department of Transportation study found that the person behind the wheel was responsible for an astounding 95 percent of motor vehicle accidents . And nearly three in four of those driver-caused accidents were due to distracted driving or decision errors such as misjudging what other drivers were doing .
I think we could say much the same of our lives . Sometimes we crash because we are inexperienced and made a mistake . But more often , we end up in the ditch because we aren ’ t focused on the road in front of us .
For almost everyone in the lead-yourself journey , the biggest distraction — by far — is what the people around us are doing . And just as surely as taking your eyes off the road can wreck your car , being overly focused on the world around you can wreck your dreams .
I ’ ll say it straight : too many people are caught up in doing as others do . Some of them follow their friends ’ lead or comply with their parents ’ expectations . Other folks wander with the crowd or float along with the trends — and end up wherever the current takes them . Either way of life produces the same tragic result : settling for smaller goals than they should have had and a lesser life than they could have had .
We are not meant to meander ! As Guy Finley has said , each of us has been “ created with a possibility far greater than to merely appear and disappear as some form in the river of passing time .” I can ’ t stress this enough . It ’ s absolutely no coincidence that we are born with two eyes and two feet facing in the same direction . Everything about our makeup reinforces the fact that we ’ ve been designed for ... a life by design ! We ’ ve been fashioned for forward movement and focused vision .
Where there is no vision , people perish . That statement comes from the Bible so , with some trepidation , I once again add , with a vision , often people thrive . Living without a vision — and especially a vision of your own that aligns with your distinct design — probably won ’ t kill you , but it will almost certainly prove fatal to your dreams . With a vision , all kinds of things become possible . I learned this in a very surprising way .
College students are among my favorite people to spend time with . I ’ ve not only taught a long-standing leadership class Baylor University , but for several years , I was invited to give a signature talk to each new crop of
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