From Survival to Success- Problem Solving via Anticipation

As an entrepreneur or solopreneur, you’ll inevitably reach a crossroads—a moment when you must decide where to invest your time to build a thriving business without you being at the center of everything.

That moment came for me last year. During a strategic coaching session, my coach, Teresa, introduced a pivotal question:

To create a self-managing company, should you spend the majority of your time in your present company or your future company?

The world is in constant motion. Standing still is not an option.

Technology—especially AI—is reshaping industries at a rapid pace, impacting more jobs than it creates. To adapt and grow, there is one skill that will determine how fast and how far you go:

The Skill of ANTICIPATION

As Tony Robbins’ head of security, I had a front-row seat to leadership at the highest level. When I asked Tony what he valued most in his team and leaders, his response was eye-opening.

“The skill I look for in leaders is anticipation.”

Over the years, I’ve posed this same question to top executives, and the majority give a similar answer.

Anticipation Separates the Best from the Rest

Those who?anticipate the future?are best positioned to succeed in sports, business, and life.

One of my favorite basketball players was John Havlicek, an NBA Hall of Famer known for his relentless movement and instinctive play. Nicknamed “Hondo,” he wasn’t the tallest or the fastest, but he had an uncanny ability to see the next move before it happened—a skill that helped him win eight NBA championships.

I modeled my approach in every sport like John Havlicek.

Entrepreneurs need to focus on their present business, but those focusing only on the present risk falling behind. Those who anticipate trends, shifts, and technological advancements position themselves to lead the way forward.

The Role of Anticipation in High-Stakes Decision Making

When I speak with business owners, I share how anticipation played a vital role during and after the Miracle on the Hudson—not just in my survival but also in how I now help leaders compress decades of experience into days to make faster, smarter decisions.

How to Master the Skill of Anticipation

The key to anticipation is pattern recognition—a skill I first taught while working on a unique project for Disneyland in the early 2000s.

Disneyland needed a solution to reduce injury rates among its character performers, and I was tasked with developing a situational awareness program. I taught the team that recognizing three key patterns could increase safety and reduce risk.

I use and teach this same approach. It applies to business, leadership, and life.

Step 1: Recognize Existing Patterns

Most behaviors follow a pattern. If you can recognize a pattern, you can shift from reaction mode to anticipation mode.

1. In business: Spot trends in your clients, competitors, or industry shifts before they become obvious.
2. In leadership: Identify patterns in employee engagement, team dynamics, and performance.
3. In crisis: Understand the behavioral patterns of people under stress to lead with clarity.

During the Miracle on the Hudson, I recognized that a passenger was mentally “stuck” in a state of paralysis. Because I understood this pattern, I was able to break it and get them moving toward safety.

Step 2: Model the Patterns of the Best

Study top performers’?habits, strategies, and decision-making processes?and integrate them into your own approach.

Tony Robbins, Elon Musk, and Steve Jobs mastered this. They studied those who came before them, synthesized their insights, and created new patterns of success that revolutionized industries.

Just as proximity is power, so is pattern recognition—it allows you to compress decades of knowledge into days.

Step 3: Create Your Own Patterns for Success

Once you’ve learned from the best, you can synthesize their patterns into your own unique approach. This is how game-changers create new innovations, disrupt industries, and solve the biggest problems in the world.

Combining?pattern recognition with the ability to execute at the right time?gives you an unfair advantage in business and life.

Anticipation is the Ultimate Advantage

In my blog, “How to Take Advantage of the Season You Are In,” I discuss how recognizing and acting on the right patterns at the right time increases your probability of success exponentially.

The lessons I’ve learned—especially from my experiences in business and surviving the Miracle on the Hudson—have proven to me that?anticipation is the key to navigating uncertainty, unlocking opportunity, and transforming one’s business and life.

The Fastest Way to Compress Decades into Days

-Start recognizing patterns in the people and industries around you.

– Model the patterns of those who have already succeeded.

– Synthesize and innovate—creating new patterns that put you ahead of the curve.

This is the foundation of living a LIMITLESS LIFE.

If you’re ready to develop your own flight plan for success, let’s connect. Email me at [email protected], and let’s start the conversation.