Using the past to plan for the future
How do you plan for the future? Many use the past as a predictor for the future. I completed Out of the Past, a free archaeology course, and I was delighted that I found it. There was some good content in the course, which was very interesting, but for me, context is very important. What I want to do with my informal liberal arts education, is to apply the concepts that I am introduced to, in my business.
After completing the course, I was reflecting on some of my biggest failures, what I am calling my “no-gos“, I realized that most of them occurred because of lack of follow through. I take the time to carefully plan, but then I change midstream because I feel stressed, or feel like there isn't enough time or whatever. The end result is that I do myself a disservice and I lose out big time. Take for instance, last year when I did the first Virtual Literary World Tour, my intent was to have the content for a membership site, but I felt pressured with all the reading and writing reviews, that I didn't write the reviews the way I had intended, therefore, I was unable to create the site, and now I have to do it – one year has passed.
In Out of the Past, I learned about the rise and fall of the Mayan empire. This is not uncommon, in the past, other civilizations such as Rome has experienced the same thing. The archaeologists working on the Mayan ruins wanted to know what happened to the common people in Mayan civilization. They were under the impression that the widespread demise of the Mayan people occurred over a century, but when they used obsidian to test the accuracy of their theory, the facts were very different from their assumptions. What they found is that the empire collapsed over four centuries, but they didn't know why and how. The archaeologists had to take a step back, and look to the present Mayan, and what they found was frightening.
The Mayan population grew very quickly, and as populations grow, their use of land for agriculture and dwelling increase. Population growth did not keep abreast of food production, so the people became malnourished, which affected their health. The land was over-farmed so crop yields decreased as well. Today, the Mayan population is on the rise again, and it is growing much faster than in the past, so knowing and using the past can enable them to plan for the future. And the new plan has to include new ways of doing things, perhaps introducing new farming techniques that do not require the use of land or as much land – hydroponic farming.
In my reality, I am looking at the mistakes that I have made to ensure that I do not make them again, and I can use the lessons learned to plan differently. In other words, I am using the past to plan for the future. The key is for me to pace myself, managing client work, and finding the right balance between working in and working on my business. In the case of the Mayans, there are many places where population growth is rapid, and there isn't enough land to go around. In cases like these, we can see what can likely occur if proactive steps are not taken. How can you use the past to plan for the future more effectively? Does the answer reside elsewhere? How have others solved a similar issue? The past doesn't have to be our past, we can use other people's past.
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Author Bio: Avil Beckford, an expert interviewer, entrepreneur and published author is passionate about books and professional development, and that's why she founded The Invisible Mentor and the Virtual Literary World Tour to give you your ideal mentors virtually in the palm of your hands by offering book reviews and book summaries, biographies of wise people and interviews of successful people. Connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.
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