learning from the past

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.

Gaze Forward

A loved one
often
replays the bad decisions
in his life.
He dwells on them.

And that is causing him
to make more bad decisions.

While he’s thinking constantly
about the past,
he’s missing opportunities
in the present.

If we drive forward
while
gazing constantly
behind us,
we’ll crash.
We should glance behind us
once or twice
briefly
and then concentrate
on the road before us.

Study the past.
Learn from it.
Then take those lessons
and focus on the present
and
the future.

Review The Year

Before we start
setting goals
for 2024,
we should take a day or two
and review 2023.

We should look at what worked
and
what didn’t work.

We should ask ourselves questions
like…

What added value to our business?
What was extra but nice to do/have?
What doesn’t add value in any way
and should be stopped?

Which partnerships are working well?
Which partnerships aren’t working ideally
but can be saved?
Which partnerships aren’t working at all
and should be severed?

Where did most of the income come from?
Can that income be increased?
Can our income be diversified
without decreasing that core income?

What mistakes were made?
How did we recover
from those mistakes?

What were the huge successes?
How can we duplicate
those successes?

Etc.

Take some time
and review 2023.
That will increase our odds
of success in 2024.

Those That Go First

We are rarely truly first.

There is usually a company
that has targeted
the same market
as we are targeting.

There is usually someone
who has tackled
similar challenges
as we’re currently tackling.

There is usually a climate
on this wonderful planet
that is a few years ahead
of what our own climate
will eventually become.

Do your research.

Learn from
those pioneers,
from the people or entities
who before us.

That might make
the difference
between
success
and
failure.