Most people don’t realize that there are two NORTH directions. One is the magnetic north where the compass points. Then there is the north where a line that is drawn through the Earth emerges at the very top. This point where all the lines converge represents where the axis on which the Earth turns is located. The lines of Longitude on a globe all converge at that point. This north is referred to as TRUE NORTH.
If you live on the west coast and use a compass to find north, you will be off by ten to sixteen degrees to the east, and if on the east coast you will be off by ten to thirteen degrees to the west. Therefore, if you are navigating using a map and are using a compass to determine the north since it is pointing to Magnetic North and not True North, you will need to make the appropriate adjustment to determine True North. True North then is what we use to navigate from where we are to the place we want to be. Another interesting factor is that the magnetic north is moving! Right now, it is in Canada but it is moving toward Siberia. Therefore, the adjustment you must make is changing. True North never changes.
Just as we must find our True North when we are plotting a path for travel, we must work to determine the True North for our life. Consider what is it in your life that matters most. There are most likely many magnetic norths in your life. Even after you have decided what True North is for your life, places, ideas, concepts, and thoughts will work to pull us away from wherever you have determined to be your True North. Someone worked to determine all those lines of longitude on the Earth. Similarly, you must work to determine the lines in your life that you must use to continually navigate to your True North.
In my book Living as a Champion, I describe this True North position as the Delight of Your Heart. I believe that within each of us, there is that sense of who we are, what we want to be, and what we want to do in our life. Sometimes, it requires making difficult decisions. It is easier to be drawn to those magnetic “norths” in our life that keep us from reaching that place we want to be. We must constantly be making that “ten to sixteen” degree correction in our life to reach the Delight of our Heart.
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