Be careful when you are following someone else’s tracks. H. Jackson Brown said, “In business or in life, don’t follow the wagon tracks too closely.” If I were adding anything to that quote it would be “because you may get stuck.”

In business this could not be any more clear. Look at the iPhone and the Blackberry, My Space and Facebook, AOL and Google, palm pilots, polaroid camera, 8 track tape players, CD’s, vinyl records and the list could go on and on. Following where other people have gone, will only get you where other people have gone. Did I miss something there or could it be that simple?

Look at your life as an example. If we didn’t follow the tracks of others for a while, none of us would have completed high school or know how to button our shirt. We all need to be lead to a certain intersection in life where we decide to continue following the tracks in front of us or to take a different route. Be careful when you look at someone else and want to be like them. I have found that the person you want to be like, many times turns out to be a goob when you get a close look at really who they are. My advice is don’t look at the stuff a person has, rather look at the eyes of who they really are. Look at these movie stars and athletes who seemingly have everything in life only to find out they didn’t know how to handle it.

Be careful whose tracks you are following because you could end up exactly where they are. I think of one female movie star that had everything. Fortune, fame and all the material things that the super wealthy have. She was a child prodigy and was one of the most sought after actresses in the industry. Well as she got older, she just could not handle the money, the success and the fame. Today she is a broken shell of the person she once was.

What am I am saying? There are times when staying on the tracks before us is the best thing we could do and then there are other times when you need to create your own tracks. You and God are the only ones that knows when to make that turn in your life. Unlike the person that left the tracks before you, God knows where the tracks lead 20 years from now. There is absolutely nothing wrong with following in someone else’s tracks so long as you know where the tracks lead.

So in summary I would say, don’t just follow for follow sake. Think on your own and think of your own. Think of your husband/wife and children and choose the best track to following to accomplish where you want to end up. KT