Facing the Future

I am the last person who should preach on forward thinking. I always seem to find myself dwelling in the past, grumbling about what I “could, or would, or should have done.”  And after many decades of doing this, I can give you one true statement about it. All of the looking back in the world won’t change what happened in the past.

Having said this, I also have to say there is a sense of understanding in knowing your past. Using the past as a learning platform allows us to better understand new things as we look towards and move into the future. And, since we are people in motion, whether we want to be or not, we need to be looking in the direction we are going. No one is going back towards 1950, or 1940.

How many people do you spot each day walking backward, not looking where they’re going, just concentrating on where they have been? Does anybody here drive by putting the car in reverse and watching the rearview mirror? It is not feasible to move in a direction and not look at where you’re going.

The main problem with going into the future is that you don’t really know what’s going to happen there. You know what happened in the past, and therefore the past feels safer, not just to you, everyone feels that way. Yet, to make any journey meaningful, you have to know where you’re going, and what is happening around you.

Even if we don’t know exactly what lies around the bend, we can set some goals. And as soon as we know what we would like, we can develop a map to get from where we are, to our desired destination. Does that mean our goals are now guaranteed? No. It gives you a tool so you can see what you want to do, and the path to get there. If you can’t view where your goal is, how can you get there? If you can see the way to where you want to be, doesn’t that make the trip easier?

Have a great day. My goal is to send you another blog tomorrow.

Author: Mike Balof

A retired Air Force Master Sergeant, Mike used to lay in bed at night and worry about what would happen if his plant closed or found himself without a job. One day his plant closed. Rather than panic and hysteria (OK, maybe a little) Mike found himself carried away on the adventure of his life. Mike started with the best job he ever had working at Home Depot. He spent 8 years working with job seekers at a local workforce center, helping them to find employment. He then started his own company developing courses, writing books and urging others to follow their own paths into the future. Mike holds a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Training and a Bachelor of Business Management, earned through the University of Phoenix and an AAS degree in Electronics Systems Technology from the Community College of the Air Force. Mike is a member of the Delta Mu Delta Business Honor Society. View all posts by Mike Balof