The first question

"There are two questions one must ask themself.

The first is "Where am I going?" and the second is "Who will go with me?"

If you ever get these questions in the wrong order, you are in trouble." Howard Thurman

Oh boy, do I feel this.

We often do this in life as well as in marketing.

In marketing, we barrel ahead with hopes of amassing followers and likes... often without ever stopping to define where we are going or if that destination is mutual.

In life, it’s the same. So many years spent on chasing lovers and friendships, only to find that once we know where we are headed, they were never meant to come along with us.

In grade five, my teacher made us memorize a poem and recite it to the class. I chose ‘Wynken, Blynken, and Nod,’ by Eugene Field. That was over 30 years ago, but I still remember it. My favorite line is:

“Where are you going, and what do you wish?” The old moon asked the three.

Funny that it’s taken me 3 decades of sitting with that line to realize that it’s always the question that should come first.