Jet
Pilots Don't Use Rear View Mirrors
Because the world is changing rapidly, you need to look
ahead, not back
Used with permission of Joel H. Weldon &
Associates, Inc.
http://www.SuccessComesInCans.com
Commercial jets
cruise at about 600 miles per hour, which is the equivalent
of ten miles per minute, or three-and-a-third city blocks
per second.
At that speed,
the pilot does not look back. And at the speed at which the
world is changing, you shouldn't look back either. Like a
jet pilot, you need to concentrate on what's up ahead.
To understand
just how fast the world is changing, consider this. All the
knowledge acquired up until 1750 doubled by the year 1900.
That was 150 years.
It doubled
again in just 50 years, between 1900 and 1950. The next time
it doubled, it took only fifteen years, from 1950 to 1965.
It doubled again between 1975 and 1980 - a period of just
five years. That is rapid change.
And in the last
28 years, mankind's knowledge has been multiplying beyond
comprehension!
A number of
years ago, Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock, presented
a dramatic illustration of this by describing the history of
mankind compacted into one calendar year.
According to
Toffler, we could say that right now it's midnight on New
Year's Eve, and twelve months ago on January 1st, man
appeared on earth. It wasn't until November 19th, nearly 10.5
months later, that fire was first used!
On December 10,
just three weeks ago, the first pictures were carved on the
walls of caves! Only two days ago, agriculture was
developed! Yesterday the Pyramids were built!
Now it's New
Year's Eve, and at 1:30 this afternoon Greece came to power.
Just 2.5 hours ago, at 9:30 this evening, the printing press
was invented. Less than an hour ago, the Industrial
Revolution began. And only twenty minutes ago, the first
airplane was flown.
Five minutes
ago, the computer was invented. One minute ago, Neil
Armstrong walked on the moon.
And within the
last 30 seconds, we've seen Watergate, women's rights,
Reagan, Clinton, George W. Bush, the 9-11 attacks, the fall
of Saddam Hussein, the Iraq War, the housing crisis, and
everything else in today's newspaper.
So, in a sense,
you are a pilot. You're piloting yourself - your personal
life, your career, and perhaps your family - through a
rapidly changing world. Once you recognize this, and accept
change as a natural, positive force, you'll begin seeing new
opportunities, experiencing less frustration and stress, and
living life more fully.
Here's what you
can do:
Spend as little
time as possible peering into your mental rear view mirror.
Learn from and
then forget the past. Concentrate on
what lies ahead.
JOEL H. WELDON &
ASSOCIATES, INC. http://www.SuccessComesInCans.com
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