FUTURECAST YOUR LONG-TERM SUCCESS

“If we do not change direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed.”
~ Confucius

Long-term success is dependent on knowing where you are now and where you are headed. Then, closing the gap. Frequently. Continuously.

Whether it’s your business, your career, or your life at home, it’s easy to get off track, lose touch, spin out, or get buried under. Without a true sense of where you are in the moment, it is impossible to realize your dreams or be a leader in your field.

Recalibrate with Profound Knowledge

The only way we can take 100% responsibility for sustaining our success is to keep recalibrating in every aspect of our lives and organizations.

The key to successful recalibration is to acquire what my dear departed mentor, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, coined as Profound Knowledge. This umbrella phrase emphasizes understanding change and how to measure it, being aware of emerging trends and shifts, and learning how to apply this knowledge to leading and sustaining long-term success.

Bottom line: If we don’t acquire Profound Knowledge, we cannot know how to prepare for and leverage coming change, thus how to sustain our success long-term.

Understanding change means understanding shifts in our personal world as well as tracking trends that may capsize us, overtake us or cause us to flounder.

When Is Enough… Enough?

Most of us are going so fast we are on automatic pilot. Always going for more, more, more. But when we are asked what we want more for, the criteria selected long ago gets dusted off. For some, the old success criteria have no more bearing in current markets, relationships, or scenarios. Others just need tweaking.

A very successful professional in his mid-fifties was telling me about how thrilled he is to have been able to expand his revenues and client base exponentially. As he shared his new plans for growth, it became clear to me that he was going for the gold ring, but he already had it! I posed the hard question: When will you have enough?

Not surprisingly, he didn’t have an immediate answer. Then the next phase of our work together began. Now he’s recalibrating: re-crafting the future he wants—in the here and now—and what he needs to sustain it.

Other clients, who are nearing the end of their high-speed careers, are facing voids they never expected. For instance, a very successful entrepreneur, now looking age 70 in the eye, recently decided to stop working. No financial questions, he’s set.

What he didn’t do was plan for how to use all his newfound free time. He hadn’t a clue. All he ever did was work, work, work. He regrets not developing other interests years ago. Now he has to play catch-up.

Keep the Edge with Future-Forward Thinking

Even if you are a major player in your industry or a leader in your field, recalibration is the name of the continuity game. If you want to sustain your success and quality of life, it’s critical to recalibrate often to be sure you and your firm are still in sync with your personal vision for your future and the longevity of the firm. Whatever needs fixin’, fix it.

What I’ve found to be true for most of us is that if we future-forward our current situation into the probable future, a projection of our current trends, we will be surprised at the outcome. It’s when we close our eyes and go unconscious that we lose sight of what really matters. Then we veer off track or lose our way.

Let’s face it: remaining ahead of the curve depends on frequent reality checks. You don’t have to be a fortune teller to effectively assess where you and your business are headed, but you do need to take the time to tell if there is, indeed, the fortune you seek in your future.

What does your future look like? How can you recalibrate to get where you want to be?