Thousands of unrelated thoughts fly through my brain everyday. Maybe you don’t have this problem. Some of these ideas are worth communicating, some are just “decorative, not functional.” My challenge is to filter out the worthies and write about them. So I jot down the best ideas or points on 3 x 5 cards. Stacks of cards litter my desk, the dresser in my bedroom and the side table by my favorite recliner. Every so often, I go through and catalog these cards into stacks. One stack might become a blog post, a bigger stack, an article. Now that I am working on a book, one card might become a chapter.
My new book deals with transferring the attitudes and skills of government intelligence operatives into the civilian world. While I’ve never been an operative myself, I’ve worked with several, gotten to know them, picked their brains and read their reports.
These men and women have “graduated” to civilian life and all have achieved success. Why? What do these intel pros have that makes them excel? Of course, they have great training. Most have a foreign language and are skilled writers. Even in their sixties they maintain a high degree of physical fitness. But I don’t think these assets alone account for their success in civilian life.
I’ve wrestled with this for three weeks. Like some type of phantom, my question comes to me when I’m unoccupied, haunting my down time. But three days ago, I picked up 3 x 5 card and wrote: “Plan for the Future.” I placed the card in a prominent place on my desk, knowing it was important, but not yet understanding why. This morning I woke up knowing how to write about this card: “Plan for the Future.”
This idea is the foundation of successful people, understanding that the future will come. But it is hardly a new concept. In 950 BC Solomon talked about the future in Proverbs, his book of wisdom. He uses the example of the ant that stores food in the summer to have enough to eat for the coming winter.
Ancient stone masons understood that today’s work brings benefits in the future. They knew that if they continued to strike a huge block of stone, they would eventually break it. The first blow showed no progress. After the hundredth blow, the rock sat showing only a small crack. They might beat on that rock for days. But following one of those blows, the mason knew not which, the giant block would crack. And now he had a piece useful for building a great monument.
Our lives are no different. Let’s say two women set their goal to get in shape. The first day they exercise, they see no difference. The fifth day they see no difference. The foolish woman gives up. It’s too much hassle, she says, and these sore muscles… But the other perseveres for two weeks. And one morning, as she gets dressed for work, she notices that her outfit is no longer tight. Even though she’s lost no weight, she has changed and toned her body into something different.
The banker wanting to become a Subject Matter Expert on international letters of credit checks out three books from the Bank Library. That night he studies a chapter. After a week, he’s more confused than when he started. But he sticks with his program. After studying for a solid month, things begin to click and make sense. One day a problem loan is discussed in committee, and the banker remembers the section on factoring letters of credit. He suggests a novel way the customer can sell a foreign letter of credit they possess for a job in progress overseas, and then use the proceeds to pay off the master note at his bank. Suddenly, he is the Subject Matter Expert and problem solver in the eyes of his boss.
Today, contrast the unsuccessful with the successful, and you will see in the unsuccessful a lack of understanding of the speed and ferocity of the future. One person I spoke with is spending more than she is making. She charges the difference on her credit cards, rolling over the balance to new cards every few months. I told her the future was coming. Not in those words, but I forced her to look ahead to see the tidal wave of debt out on the horizon.
Another unsuccessful person I know spends his time playing video games. Nothing wrong with games. I enjoy games too. But first we must do our work, then we should spend some time reading and/or upgrading our skills. Only then can we take a break and waste a bit of time on games.
Everyone talks about setting goals, and that is vitally important. But even before that, we must understand and teach that the future is coming. And that our actions today will influence the future of tomorrow. “You will reap what you sow.” Too many of us never think about how our small repeated actions will impact the rest of our lives. We only think about today.
Be one of the successful ones. Remember, the future is coming. There are few surprises in life. If you overeat and smoke, you will suffer health problems. Financial reversals will come, and if you have no savings and are deep in debt, you could lose your house and have to live with your brother-in-law.
But if you turn off the TV and read something work related for an hour every evening, in a few weeks you’ll have management and fellow workers turning to you for answers. Skip the desert and walk for two miles every evening, and in a couple of months you will have friends and co-workers telling you how good you look and asking you how you lost the weight.
The future will come.
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