Coddiwomple (v.) English slang word

To travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination.

There is a tension in my spirit about this word.

On the one hand it sounds exactly like the kind of vacation I want to take where my honey and I throw our suitcases in the car and say “let’s stop for the night when we’re tired.” That being in opposition to the majority of our lengthy road trips taken when our family was young and the relatives lived over 1000 km away. Those trips were of the “just get there” variety. Stops were for biological reasons only and everyone in the car had a personal stash of entertainment in the form of dinky toys, books and snacks.

On the flip side, as a coach I encounter many clients who are coddiwompling along in their lives. Outward industry gives off the appearance of direction, when in fact they are traveling very purposefully in no particular direction at all. As if busy-ness were the measure of success.

Building a business (or a life) from a plan is not easy. It takes focus, and the discipline of saying “no” to good stuff in order to say “yes” to better stuff. There is a risk the destination may be missed by a degree or two, but it seems less risky than a coddiwomple approach to the journey.