How To Pay Attention

Yesterday, I talked about
how we all should
know the signs of failure,
watch for them,
and
then act on them.

There are millions
of points of failure.

Who has the excess time
to monitor all of them?

I certainly don’t
have this spare time.

What I do
is I monitor people
monitoring the possible points
of failure.

I’ll follow experts
on my industry
or climate change
or fascism
or business.

Every week or so,
I’ll scan their feeds.

And that usually gives me a sense
of what might happen soon.

Track the social media posts
of the people
monitoring failure.

That should keep you
adequately informed.

Reduce Stress

The average adult
is extremely stressed.

According to the 2023
Stress In America report,
24% of adults
rated their stress
as extremely high
(compared to 19%
in 2019).

Stress levels are lower
for older people.

Only 9% of those aged 65+
feel extremely stressed.

In contrast,
34% of those aged 18 to 24
feel extremely stressed.

What does this mean
for business builders?

Our employees are likely
to be under a LOT of stress.

Our customers are also
likely looking for ways
to lower their stress levels.

If we can reduce stress
with our products, our services,
our management style,
we are more likely
to earn loyalty
from the people around us.

Starting A Business Has Always Been Hard

Starting a business
in today’s
pandemic, climate change,
and
fascist
stricken world
is
admittedly a challenge.

But starting a business
has NEVER been easy.

In one of my niches,
I started
before there was
a market for the niche.
I started with
a couple readers (customers)
and the same number
of competitors.

I would approach readers
one by one
in other niches
and sell them
on my niche
and my books.

Today,
the challenge is
the market for the niche
is TOO crowded.

But the market also
has quite a few readers (customers).
And I no longer have to convince
prospects
that the niche is worth trying.

Don’t allow
the challenges
of today’s business environment
to stop you
from making your dreams
a reality.

They CAN be overcome.
As different challenges
have been overcome
by others
in the past.

Florida And Women

Florida is no longer
safe
for women (and many other people)
to visit.

The new bathroom laws,
allowing people
to examine your genitals
if you’re ACCUSED of being trans,
alone
make it hostile.

What does this mean
for business builders?

If your business
is situated
in Florida,
you are unlikely
to attract
out-of-State female talent.

Tourism will decrease.
Don’t count on that
as a source
of customers.

Conventions held
in Florida
will see a decrease
in female attendees.

It isn’t safe
to ask employees
or partners
to travel there.

Consider all this
when you’re planning
an event
or
doing other business
in Florida.

There Are Endless Opportunities

These are admittedly dark times.

We’re still in the middle
of the COVID pandemic.
There are possible
new pandemics (Bird Flu, Marlburg, etc)
on the horizon.
Nuclear war is becoming
increasingly possible.
Climate change is kicking
our a$$es.
Fascism is on the rise.
There are countless other issues.

But the opportunities
are also endless.

Heck, some of the darkness
brings with it
opportunities.

A buddy is an event planner
specializing in
accessible and pandemic-safe
events.
She is hiring more staff.

Another buddy
sources now-hard-to-find supplies.
She is considering hiring
more staff also.

There are opportunities
EVERYWHERE.
Look for them.