In Your Business, Do You Hunt or Explore?

I learn the most amazing things from my clients. Recently one of my clients and I stumbled into a discussion about what it means to be a "hunter" in your life vs. an "explorer" of your life. As we embark upon the first days of 2009 and set goals for how we want to experience our lives this year, this seems a timely thought to share.

The roles of hunter and explorer are both valuable and are, in fact, mutually supportive. Exploring yields valuable information about the landscape, while hunting uses that information to leverage a successful outcome.

Hunting is a tactic that uses a plan to achieve a specific outcome. It's task-focused with "success" defined by the accomplishment of that outcome. Exploring, on the other hand, is an endeavor of curiosity where the "beginner's mind" is an asset and the journey is more important than the destination. It's possibility-focused with "success" defined by uncovering something new.

The Focus of a Hunter
Think about your health, your business and your life in 2008. What hunts did you participate in? Where did you execute on a clearly defined plan? How did you fare? Is it time to take a step back and get a broader view of the landscape? What have you missed because you've been operating with the focus and precision of a hunter's mind?

The Vision of an Explorer
As the new year unfolds, try donning your explorer's cap. View the upcoming year with the curiosity and excitement of an adventurer embarking on new terrain. Is your business where you want it to be? Do your daily practices for cultivating your health support your professional goals? How about your personal goals?

How are you supporting or sabotaging your ability to achieve those goals? What untapped potential is within you? The answers lie in an assessment of your company's health capital.

Your Assets and Liabilities
Traditionally, a balance sheet provides a snapshot of a business's financial status. It summarizes an organization's assets, liabilities and shareholder equity. Since your health is a foundational form of capital that funds your ability to think clearly, maintain high stamina, act with confidence and engage with authenticity, extend your organization's traditional balance sheet to include "health capital."

How are you and your team faring? Chronically tired? That's a liability. Feeling post-pizza lunch indigestion during a client meeting? That's a liability. Making time to get out for a lunch-time run? That's a professional and personal asset.

Once you have a good picture of your company's health currency, you'll have a good picture of what goals to make in 2009. Remember, your health is a key currency that funds your potential. Daily actions that honor your health require that you combine the vision of an explorer with the precise and aligned action of a hunter. Once you have--stand back--you're going to blow the lid off of what you currently believe to be possible.