Tag: Climate Change

The Danger Of Disconnecting

I have a book to write
(a product to design).

Bad news kills my creativity
and there is plenty of bad news
from across the country
and around the world.

I’ll have to disconnect
to write the book.
But, with all the extreme weather,
that’s dangerous.

So what I’ve done
is give
a trustworthy
dependable loved one
the job
of telling me
if I need to take action.

He will inform me
if I should evacuate
or
board up my home
or take any other
emergency action.

If you need to disconnect,
ensure someone you trust
remains connected
and is able to contact you.

These are the turbulent times
we’re living in.

Go Outside

I have a book
(a project)
due
(to be finalized)
soon.

I went outside
for five minutes
and watched the bees buzz
and listened to the birds sing.

The Amazon Rainforest is in
its death throes.
The Great Barrier Reef
has been bleached
beyond recovery.
The AMOC is slowing.

Your neighborhood
won’t be immune
to climate change.

Go outside
for at least five minutes.

Look at a tree.
Touch grass.
Feel the sun
on your face.

It will calm
your stressed a$$ down,
allow you to think
more clearly.

And years from now,
when your surroundings
are less…hospitable
to nature,
you will look back
at those five minutes
and be grateful.

Solve Part Of The Problem

A buddy
asked his social media followers
how the world could make
their food systems
more secure.

A follower suggested
lawns,
the largest irrigated ‘crop’
in the USA,
could be converted to vegetable gardens.

Someone else dismissed
that ‘solution,’
saying it would only provide
a fraction
of the food
the entire country’s population
would need.

This same person
dismissed every other suggestion
using the same argument.

Okay, dumba$$,
if you’re looking for
one easy solution,
you’re not going to get one.

The solution will be
dozens of smaller solutions.

Just as the solution
for your target market’s problem
will likely be
dozens of smaller solutions.

And you, as a business builder,
could provide one of those
smaller solutions.

Focus on solving a part
of the problem.

THAT is doable.
And it could be
extremely profitable.

Influencers Aren’t Experts

As traditional media
is now controlled by the billionaires,
I follow experts
on social media
to hear the truth
about what the f*ck is going on
and to make better decisions.

Influencers aren’t experts
(in anything other than
being influencers).

Influencers have
large followings
because they tell people
what they want to hear.

They tell people,
for example,
the pandemic is over
and they don’t have to mask.

They tell people,
as another example,
climate change is reversible
and they don’t have to
change their lifestyles at all.

Experts tend to have
much smaller followings
because they tell people
the brutal truth.

They tell people
the pandemic is far from over,
people are dying every day from COVID,
there are other much more severe pandemics
on the horizon
and everyone who values their brain
and their health
should mask.

They tell people
climate change will increase exponentially
in intensity,
that this was the hottest year
in history
yet will be the coldest year
when compared to the future,
and we have to change
almost everything about our lifestyles
to survive that future.

No one wants to hear that sh*t.

I definitely don’t want to hear it.

Yet I force myself to listen
because it impacts my business
and my own survival.

Very few people will do the same, however.

True experts don’t gain
large followings.

Influencers aren’t experts.

Reach out to influencers
for marketing help.
They’re brilliant at that.

But ignore what they have to say
about other issues.

The Spanish Flu And Suppressing The News

The worldwide pandemic
of 1918-1920
is referred to
as the Spanish Flu.

That isn’t because
the pandemic started in Spain.

It is because
Spain was one of the only countries
that initially didn’t suppress news
about the spreading pandemic.

The rest of the world
did what the rest of the world
is doing right now
with COVID and Bird Flu
and Climate Change
and other negative news
– they reported on news
only when it suited their owners’ goals.

And it didn’t suit their owners’ goals
to report on the pandemic.

The news has always been
manipulated.

It is merely more obvious now
due to the internet
and the easier
person-to-person
communication of events.

And it is more serious now
because many of the events
the news now chooses
not to report
could kill us,
could kill loved ones,
could kill our businesses.

Have other sources of news.

Experts are often available
via social media.
Follow and listen to them.

Just In Case

I watered the garden
last evening.

Today, it rained.

I suspected it might rain.
The forecasts said it might.
But there was a chance
it wouldn’t rain.

And I knew
another day without water
would hurt,
perhaps even kill
some of the plants.

So I ‘wasted’ that water
(not really as it was
taken from a rain barrel
that refilled with the rain)
and I wasted my time.

Because that ‘cost’
was less than
the cost of killing my plants.

There are some events
in our future
that might, if they happen,
severely impact our businesses,
perhaps even kill them.

Act as though
they will happen.

Yes, that means
you’ll waste resources
if they don’t happen,
but the cost of not doing anything
far outweighs
the cost of doing something
for no reason.

Prepare for these events.

There Will ALWAYS Be ‘Businesses’ To Build

Yesterday,
I mentioned I planned to
build businesses
and manage projects
until I’m dead.

In the past,
I’ve also talked about
how climate change,
various pandemics,
fascism
and other events
will kick our a$$es.

You might be thinking
these two stances
contradict each other.
We can’t build businesses
during an apocalyptic-like event.

Actually, yes,
yes, we CAN build ‘businesses’
during an apocalyptic-like event.

These ‘businesses’ won’t likely
have financial profit
as their goals.
The goal will likely be
survival.

But organizing people
toward reaching a common goal
will be necessary.

Managing people
will be necessary.

Motivating people
will be necessary.

Innovation will be necessary.

Then more than ever.

Because our survival will be
at stake.

There will always be
a ‘business’ to build.

The skills and experience
you’re gaining
are invaluable.

The Speed Of Change

A buddy said to me,
yesterday,
“The world is changing
so f*cking fast.
I can’t keep up.”

The world IS changing
more quicky
than it has in the past.

But that change
is still very, very slow.

The reason it seems
like it is changing
so f*cking fast
is because
we HAVEN’T been keeping up.

We haven’t been
paying attention
or taking the previous changes
seriously.

Experts have been warning
about the US
falling to fascism
for decades.

We simply didn’t pay attention
to them
until the Supreme Court
gave the US President
King-like powers.

Scientists have been warning
about climate change
for over a century.

We mocked and derided them
until we got a monster hurricane
in the same day
as widespread floods
and fires.

Even the pandemic was predicted.
Experts warned we were due
for a world-wide pandemic.

If we want our businesses
to survive
and flourish
in the future,
we have to pay attention
to experts
and to the less-impactful changes
happening all around us.

The signs are there.
Heed them.

Write It Down

With repeated COVID infections
all damaging the brain
combined
with all the disasters
worrying and distracting us,
the world is getting
stupider.

We have to offset
that stupid.

How?

One solid tactic
is to write down everything
and to force those around us
– employees, partners, suppliers –
to write things down also.

Document systems,
strategies, customer interactions,
cold calling scripts,
everything that is important
to the running of our businesses.

Then make it easy
for people to access
that information.
Ensure databases are accessible
and searchable.

Write everything critical
down.
You’ll need that documentation.

Go Outside

More and more countries
are joining the
50C/122F club,
enduring heat
that prevents people
from going outside
for a long period of time.

We also hear about natural disasters
every dang day.

If your weather is nice
and the air is clear,
go outside.

Many of your business building activities
don’t have to stop.

You can return messages
and make calls
and look at budgets outside.

While you do that,
you might see a butterfly
or
wiggle your toes in the grass
or
feel the sun’s rays on your face.

Enjoy that
while we still can.