You are the CEO of Your Future

The magnitude of social and economic change in the world has sped up dramatically over the past few years. It is now crucial to have a focused vision, personal strategy and a crystal clear set of goals, if you want to step out of the crowd and live a life of excellence. This knowledge based world, where change is now the norm, has in fact made having a clear vision and focused personal strategy essential, not just for people that want to excel, but for anyone that wants to thrive and survive.

The days of operating on autopilot, where you go through life flying by the seat of your pants, comfortable and secure that the organisation or government will provide for and look after you are over. The only person that can secure your future stares back at you in the mirror every morning. You are 100 % responsible for how your future turns out, the success or failure that you will see, are directly proportional to the amount of effort you put into your on-going personal development.

Ignorance will be an even greater tyrant than it ever was in the past, anyone that lacks knowledge and the discipline to apply that knowledge in their lives, will be enslaved and left licking their wounds of regret.

Action Idea: Build a strategy and create a plan for your on-going personal development. This plan must include time to read for a minimum of 30 minutes a day, a commitment to listen to audio books on your commute to work every day, a plan to attend a minimum of 4 seminars related to your field every year.

Everyone Must See Themselves as Self-employed

You must make the shift in the way you think about yourself; you are the CEO of your own future, the head of a service company with a single employee. This notion that you are self-employed and the master of your own future; puts the power back in your hands, you are no longer dependant on any organisation for your success and security. You can sell your services to any company at any time, but that does not mean that you are any less loyal to the company that currently purchases your services. The company that is purchasing your services is your most important client at that moment and as such deserves all the loyalty, customer service and commitment you can muster. This shift where you see yourself as a separate entity to the organisation that purchases your services, allows you to offer great loyalty and service and at the same time to never equate your personal long term interests with that of the organisation.

This new proactive philosophy will allow you to see yourself as a business rather than as an employee. Any business that wants to thrive and prosper must constantly offer the best service possible, commit to consistent growth and keep updating and improving the products and services offered. Now that you have changed the way you think about yourself, ask these simple questions:

• What are my current strengths and weaknesses?
• What knowledge or skill do I lack?
• What trends must I watch?
• How vulnerable am I?

Answer these questions, thinking about yourself as a company. Set up a training department and ensure that your employee is constantly updating his or her knowledge and skills, in line with the issues that you highlighted by answering the questions above.

Change is as inevitable as death and taxes in the new millennium, so learn to be flexible in the face of any daily surprises that will cross your path. The challenge we face every day when dealing with the constant change in our environment, is our tendency to overreact when faced with the inevitable change. This is due to our over indulgent value system and our need for instant gratification, where we hold an unrealistic belief that we deserve privilege, without responsibility. Until we accept that we are responsible for everything that happens or does not happen in our lives and it is not the fault of the economy, high interest rates or due to anything exte
al of ourselves, we are powerless to manage the inevitable change that will occur.
Wrestle back your power and know that change is here to stay, become flexible and accepting of change, use change to your advantage, commit to constantly learn, grow and improve and change will become the creator of the most incredible future possible.

http://www.andrewhorton.co.za