Greg's Right FIT #429

Quick notes to help you grow your business in less time with less effort. . . sometime next week. 

In this issue: 

- Thoughts on the Past
- Being Human
- Random Stuff

Thoughts on the Past

• All things come to an end. Whether it's my neighbor's 83-year-old tree, or the amateur status of college basketball. When faced with change, don't wish for the past. Adopt the spirit of the US Marine's motto: improvise, adapt, overcome.
• The future may or may not resemble the past, but we'll come up with "parts that rhyme" when we keep our minds open. The easiest way to keep an open mind is to ask How and What questions to ourselves. A simple "How will I. . .?" goes a long way towards preventing our brains from shutting down. 
• When strategizing for growth, don't let your present situation or past experience weigh down your vision of the future. The easiest way to escape the past is by working from the future back to today, instead of working from the present to where you want to go. A big jump comes from a big vision, over time.
• Part of the human condition is getting stuck. There is no shame when you catch yourself stuck in the past. Recognizing it and not being stubborn about remaining there seems to be the key to moving on. Simple but not easy, I know.

Being Human - Ignoring the past

“Live out your imagination. Not your history.” – Stephen R. Covey

You may have heard this expression before: Yesterday is history, Tomorrow's a mystery, Today is a gift. It's why we call it the Present. 

I remember being told this by an old priest during a group confession event at a Catholic Church. It was memorable for two reasons. One is the saying itself. The other is the setting. Since it was a group event, we were spread out all over the Church. I met him on the altar, out in the open, and he was old. Old enough to be hard of hearing. Every sin I confessed was met with a loud, "What? You did what?" Embarrassing, but he offered that gem of a saying so he's forgiven. 

We are a bundle of our experiences. Our past makes us who we are. One version of our past I see people struggle with is our past plans. Our vision of our future. The nature of the world is change. This change can and does impact our futures. When a lot of change happens, our past vision of the future may be damaged beyond repair. It causes problems. We want our old vision of the future to come true, but the change prevents it from happening. Yet we still hold on to the past vision. 

In my time at the bank, I learned a technique they called re-forecasting. Basically, every month we revisit the plans we made for the quarter, year, and five-years out. The main question we ask is "what has changed and what impact does it have on our plans?" It's hard to do, but it works.  

When your vision of the future is changed, find a way to re-forecast. The bigger the change, the more the vision needs to change. It's easy to say, hard to do. Simple, but not easy. 

Good stuff.

Random Stuff

“. . .Not all those who wander are lost; . . ." – J.R.R. Tolkien

My team didn't win last weekend. We had fun in the big city, though. Our son took us all over Manhattan and Brooklyn, walking, eating, looking around. We visited some museums, sat in the sun, and enjoyed each other's company. 

As we traveled, I heard from other visitors that the NY subway system was under siege. I was told it's dangerous, and the government needed to bring in the armed forces to keep the peace. Be careful, they said.

I didn't see it. 

It may be true somewhere, but my son, the daily-subway-user, didn't mention dealing with it, and everything seemed normal. It was so normal that instead of waiting for a car, I convinced some of my travel companions to join me in the mass-transit experience. We headed in, used our phones to pay the toll, jumped on a train, and 10 minutes later jumped out at our stop. It was flawless. 

This led to them telling the rest of the crowd about how easy it was. The sports arena sits right on top of the station! We're only a couple of stops away. Greg knows! 

After a fantastic dinner, we took the whole crew on to the subway to get to our game. First hiccup: the train we rode in on was hving issues, so we switched to another line. Second Hiccup: the subway turnstiles didn't like my phone this time. Third hiccup: the subway car was packed to the max because it was early evening. Fourth hiccup: the train didn't move and no reason was given. Fifth issue: when it finally started up, it crawled along about 5 miles an hour. 

You get the point. It was nothing like the morning experience and I felt the white-hot judgment of my companions, even if I couldn't see them in the mass of humanity stuffed on the train.

But the challenges weren't over! 

Madison Square Garden sits on top of a subway station, but it's Penn Station. Even though it only has 11 platforms, and serves just over 6000,000 people a day, it's surprisingly confusing. In the morning, we went down one set of stairs and to the train. In the evening we wandered, oh, I don't know, maybe 3/4 of a mile? Where is MSG exactly? Again, I feel judged. 

Right as things get desperate, we emerge from the underground right in front of the arena. 

Ahh travel. 

Needless to say, my navigational skills were not called upon during the rest of the trip. 

But it's in the past. I'm over it.

(almost)

PS: The big dance starts today, Thursday. I am writing this now while I can predict my mood! Go Jays!