The chaos ahead... (and my pic with Messi, because todays he's officially the GOAT)

The past few years have been pretty wild. Without being overly dramatic I would say that we’ve lived through some crazy times.

Pandemics. Wars… you name it.

I’ve lived half a century… the past 25-30 of which included some seismic shifts in my mind.?

In 1989 when I was graduating high school, the wall was coming down in Berlin. Not two years prior I watched West Germany, not Germany, play against Diego Maradona’s Argentina in South America. I still find it crazy that not long ago, there was an East and a West.

Just a few years later (1992) Czechoslovakia split into several countries. As did Yugoslavia. The political and religious worlds were changing so fast.?

When I started my first company (1995) smartphones were literally just starting to be sold and even crazier, Netscape just launched the commercial internet browser. Literally the internet wasn’t a thing (and for the next few years smart business people told me that I was crazy to think it would ever be more than a fad).

Google didn’t exist until almost 2000.?

The iPhone launched in 2007.?

The world has gotten smaller and connected. We travel on planes to all corners of the earth each and every?day. We buy and sell products with partners from across the globe.?

Ok, I’ll stop. What’s with the nostalgia and history lessons through the eyes of Mac :) I apologize… but I want to make a very stark point and prediction.?

The next 5 years will make the last 50 look like a snail moving through time. Things are about to explode to new levels of change.?

IMHO, we have two ways to look at the near term future (and both feel equally valid)... We can and have reason to be optimistic… or we can live in fear and pessimism.?

Global inequality looked promising over the past decade as hundreds of millions escaped poverty. Women's rights in many countries were taking encouraging leaps. Racism, LGBTQ, neurodivergence, and more has entered the conversation and in many places, has made progress. Technology continues to level a global playing field.?

BUT I believe the next few years will create some of the biggest shifts the world has ever seen, and sadly not all of them will be good. Many of our positive trends are being challenged and fought. Some countries almost appear to be going backwards in time.?

Given this, I wanted to share my formula for the future. This is how I chose to look at the future and?how I plan to actively navigate and capitalize on what lies ahead.

First and foremost, I chose optimism.?I truly believe that when there is rapid change, even chaos, the world rewards those who chose to be present, happy and engaged. Those who believe we can MAKE change, not just accept what is happening around us or to us.

Second, I see uncertainty as an opportunity.?Many people when confronted with fog chose to stop. Things are unclear so we’ll just wait to see what happens when the fog clears. Personally, when people slow down I stay the course. When others slow down, even if you keep moving at the same speed you are moving faster than most. If you chose to pick up the pace? Well now then you are Usain Bolt just outrunning everyone around you. Don’t let a little fog of uncertainty stop you.

Third, there is NOTHING (I repeat) NOTHING more valuable than freedom.?Now more than ever I hope you are designing your business and your life so you can spend more time with family and friends. I hope you are traveling more because your business runs without you. I hope you are smelling the roses on a morning walk or sitting and watching the sunset with those you love. If you are on the treadmill of entrepreneurship and think you’ll be able to just get off when things improve, you are wrong. It only gets harder from here. Once you get on, you don’t step off. So you need to design your business, and your life with freedom in it. I work on this every day.

Finally, strong convictions loosely held.?I don’t remember who first said this, or even where I heard it, but it is so valuable. You need to have a strong view of the future. Where it is going. Where the challenges will be. Where the opportunities will appear… You need to pursue that vision with absolute conviction BUT you need to be willing and able to adapt quickly. If you find data that proves your thesis wrong, adapt. Stay nimble and agile… rebuild conviction, and go again.

Look, I expect more chaos. Global pandemics. Global food shortages, supply chain disruptions. Wars. Geo-political instability. Financial crisis after crisis (mortgage, crypto, central banks, currencies…). Yep, I think we have it all coming at us, but I KNOW we can navigate these things.?

I know that if you choose to, you can capitalize on them.?

You can choose to make the world a better place.?

You can choose to MAKE things happen for you, not just let things happen TO YOU.

For me, the future looks bright and wild. Full of adventures, challenges and opportunities. I chose to be optimistic, to keep moving, to continually pursue freedom and through it all stay nimble enough to change.?

Mac

PS.?A poor kid from South America, with a hormone deficiency (doctors predicted he would be 4’7” without intervention) just won the world cup?today?and for me put an exclamation point on his being the greatest player in the history of soccer (Lionel Messi)...

In this world anything is possible.?