Thinking About the Future

Futurist, Rebecca Ryan, was the keynote speaker for the 2018 Quad Cities Chamber Annual Meeting a few weeks ago. She presented several thought-provoking questions and ideas about the future.

One question presented was, What if a competitor opened up a business next door to you? What would that competitor do to stand out and put you out of business? What would you do in order to stay in this hypothetical business?  You may be thinking, I don’t own a business. This doesn’t relate to me. But wait, it can. This hypothetical business can be any number of things; it can be your position at work, your role at home, in the community, etc.

How can we stay in “business?” We must play to our strengths and use them to our advantage. What are you really good at and truly enjoy? Take time to seek out opportunities that play to your strengths, at work and outside of work, learn new skills and techniques, find a mentor. We need to take that first step towards building our strengths so we can succeed now and in the future.

“Set your course by the stars, not by every passing ship.” – Omar Bradley