I
was talking with a pretty smart business observer, who said, “I
don’t think the lives of many people in this town have turned out
the way they expected.”
At
first I thought he was referring to overwhelming smart-phone addiction,
but thinking further my life sure hasn’t been what I was planning
in high school, college, the early years.
It’s
not better, it’s not worse, it’s just very different. That
unexpected sense of differentness makes some people unhappy, makes
some people feel rootless. Of course it makes some people feel like
they have won the lottery and are living in a fantasy world.
Same
world.
My
observation is that seldom do we end up doing what we had originally
planned, that our external circumstances are the sum of our choices
and to a lesser extent what has been done for and to us. We have more
control over our internal equilibrium.
Pressure
comes from outside, stress from the inside.
Seems
to me that a lot the success of Americans comes from following the
words of the famous Yogi, who said, “When you come to a fork in the
road, take it.”
How
have your choices changed your outcomes?
Please join us
6 pm, March
13th,
at the Capital Technology
Management Hub, where Sales
Lab’s Jack
Gates presents Rainmaker 12, Lessons from
Makers,
followed by the featured CTMH Presentation, Sales
Lab’s Dick
Davies speaking about The
Direct Economy, How to Profit from The Most Lucrative Market in
the History of the World!
Dick:
ReplyDeleteGail Sheehy wrote Passages - a book about the journey of life - and noted that every decade the individual goes through a trauma of passage - most notable is the hard times of hitting 30. More importantly in the 50's and later is the trauma of regret for what was versus dreams and expectations.
Due to the economy, I know too many people out of work with no prospect of re-entering the workforce. Not because of lack of intent, but because while they were working, the world changed and they did not notice.
Many have had a satisfying life to this point, but do not have the skills in demand today. They have become obsolete. They got there by accident due to changes in technology and open access to a wealth of information on the internet.
The good news is this access can help them retool for today's need; but it takes effort to recognize it and to learn the right new skills.
One candid person told me they were disappointed that they had to begin learning again - they had planned to simply draw on the experiences from the past to reach retirement. This is like an out of gas race car hoping to get to the winners circle by coasting over the finish line - too many others with gas to burn and the same idea.
Thanks for a thought-provoking post!