Herman School of Business
How Far Ahead Can You See?
Live for the moment. And in my opinion you will lose in the long run.
When you were taught to drive a car the instructor probably told you to look way out in front of you to see what you were driving into. Not just the 100 feet in front of the car…but see beyond that as far ahead as you can so you can make the necessary adjustments. If you see a stalled car three hundred feet ahead in your lane you don’t wait until you are right behind it to do something…you anticipate, put on your turn signal (my wife says my car must not have them) and move into another lane so you won’t get caught stuck behind the broken down vehicle. Because you saw what was ahead and acted accordingly.
I am writing this blog from a wonderful apartment in Studio City, California. I could walk down the hill from here and get in line for the Jay Leno show less than a mile from this spot. There is a normal sized bedroom, reasonable sized living room/dining area combo and a small kitchen area with all the normal amenities. What does telling you this have to do with looking out as far ahead of yourself at all times? Well, our property at home has over two acres of ground. This condo has a four foot by eight foot patio just below parking lots and driveways with other residents coming and going constantly. And this type of living arrangement could be in my future.
People want to downsize when they hit a certain age. I am not anywhere near that age yet. And now that I see the future…where in the hell is my barn with all that stuff I play with?...I am going to anticipate and do something about it. Every time my wife says she feels like the property is too big to take care of…I will do more yard work. When she isn’t looking I will be pruning trees, mowing grass, mulching flower beds, and cleaning our pool so that she doesn’t feel like its any trouble staying put.
Sure, the flower beds are wonderful here just outside our window…but that maintenance truck blocking my view has to move before I will see it. The convenience store right next to the activities building is convenient. The pool sparkles with other guests…at my house I am usually the only one in the water! No one plays tennis here when the sun is burning hot…they seem to like playing at eleven o’clock at night when I want to go to bed. Our neighbors at home wave when we see them…from about four hundred feet away…we don’t know whether it’s Jan or Brenda, we can’t see that far. I saw Danny my next door neighbor every time I walked out the door yesterday…and I know it was him because he was two feet away.
At home we get the occasional squirrel scurrying across the roof…I think the dog they have in the condo over ours weighs about 120 pounds, based on his paws pouncing the floorboards in the ceiling over my head.
Yes, I am looking out far ahead…into the future of downsizing and condo world. Giving up “all my space” and having less to take care of so I can “enjoy” my life. And now that I see that condo broken down in my lane ahead I am not turning on my blinker and changing lanes…I am making a U-Turn and stepping on the gas for the next twenty years so I can stay right where I am until the grim reaper comes calling.
- Posted: 16 July 2008
- Comments: 0
- Category: Business success
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