|
GO BACK GO AHEAD
Thursday Feb. 9, 2012
Churchill said: Never give in, never; never; never; never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.
Einstein said: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
And they’re both dead.
Follow their advice and you’ll end up just as dead.
Don’t follow it – you’ll end up the same way.
Seriously, right answers aren’t in the minds and considerable wisdom of these types.
I’ve read up on Einstein’s personal life – and clearly he was no genius there.
His quote is good guidance for all of us, in the boardroom or the bedroom, with friends, family and colleagues.
And clients. And communities. And politicians. And economists.
And yet the insanity continues . . .
Are the answers we need today, and tomorrow, hidden in treasure chests of past experience, history lessons or advice from sage old wise guys, leaders and dead philosophers?
Or from stubborn 5 yr. olds in the sandbox who haven’t yet learned what they can’t do in life?
Giving up easily when the answer I get is a big honkin’ NO, vis-à-vis NEVER giving up are opposite ends of my emotional teeter-totter. The words, YES, CAN DO are not heard enough.
And NO means NO, right?
If every salesman stopped when he/she heard NO, little would ever be sold to anyone and the wheels of commerce would grind to a rusty grid-lock.
If every man stopped when a woman said NO, would there be as many 2nd or 3rd dates, because rejection is nature’s STOP sign. Or is it a YIELD, a warning, to proceed with caution.
In every place we encounter others, in every endeavour, we get these signals as often wrong as we get them right. So, we should learn!
To avoid living too long in the world of the firm NO and in enduring hope my bulldog approach to hold onto things, ideas, projects and objectives doesn’t send me off the cliff simply because I held on too long.
In recent days I’ve had some reminders of the value (lost) of opportunities missed, the value (thankfully) of disasters missed, and the hope (optimistically) for better, for more . . . understanding, wisdom, success and happiness.
We all want that, right?
Considering what some expert says about anything that has just happened – or reviewing a long history of what has happened – to somehow forecast what will happen next.
Whether you follow politics, business or the fashion pages you need not look far – on the internet, just a few clicks away – to find advice, predictions and analysis on everything. Why do we have such an appetite consume this?
Like most people concerned about their future, I’ve tried to figure out the future by looking at the past. In business, to be able to do the right thing, at the right time, in the right way to maximize opportunities. In personal situations, pretty much the same.
The fiscal, emotional and relational issues come together, I think, in that I don’t want to repeat mistakes, I don’t want to repeat disasters, I don’t want to repeat wasted time – and I want a better result.
So, what role does certainty or uncertainty play in this – in my argument and in life generally?
Nothing is inevitable.
Neither the sure thing, the worse fear or the greatest hope.
Why is it then, that we can so easily rationalize the sure thing, the worst fear and a host of other things as real, certain and likely to occur?
Yet . . .
When we think of our greatest hope, how certain, how confident, how determined are we?
There is a time, I suppose, in all worthy efforts when giving up is the right thing to do, when things become futile. I’ve had my moments in that mind-set, but not often and not for long.
I crossed a hurdle on a deal yesterday – not a big hurdle, but one that could have ended an otherwise good deal. Not giving up, not taking NO for an answer is the best reason I could give. My client might argue it was my expertise and I could argue that it was my client’s integrity, good business idea and inherent value. We would both be right.
On another front, someone gave me a flat-out NO yesterday. I’ve not given up on that yet.
On another issue, I contacted someone too late, I’d been out of touch too long – and I learned that I’d missed a great opportunity.
With another client, I was happily re-engaged to help take his business to a higher level.
The spectrum of opportunity is as wide today as ever, wishing and hoping don’t produce much other than wasted time . . .
We only get to live in the future, one life at a time.
We all CAN do that.
Mark Kolke
305,996
column written/ published from Calgary: morning walk: -8 C/ 17 F, crisp, calm and sunny; Gusta wanted to keep following her nose across the path of hurting truck but I hauled her back in time to let her smell another day – leaving truck driver and I grateful while Gusta seemed completely oblivious, just wanting to get home to get fed . . .
|
|
