Even though the holidays are supposed to be an upbeat and joyful time of year, sadly, this is also a time that many of us feel least hopeful and confident. Whatever we dreamed back in January has either triumphantly materialized or been reluctantly scratched from the goal list. Some days I think that too many of those wonderful New Year resolutions have been forgotten or trashed. All of that is further complicated right now because the American Mood Meter seems to be stuck on “less than” rather than more, pointing down versus up. Our faith in many things is being shaken on a regular basis. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” Hebrews 11.1
As the shadow of 2010 looms over us, I think its time to remember how the business of life really works. Simple belief in your ability to realize goals and in getting positive outcomes makes a major difference in how you feel each day. Everyone wants to un-wrap a big box of hope for the holidays. Whether you own a business or toil in a cubicle in the branch plant of Mega-Money Corporation, we are all being knocked about by extraordinary levels of change, challenge, and transition. Even the current health care debate is feeling unhealthy. To avoid being put off your game by the 24-hour bad news cycle, you have to remember that as a country, we’ve been here before. I often compare it to the wave of change that our country underwent at the dawn of the 20th century, 100 years ago. New business categories were popping up like mushrooms while many with long traditions were on a quiet glide to the business graveyard. Public discourse was in a fractious mood and politicians were being….well politicians. Put your future in good hands - your own. ~Author Unknown
I sometimes think about what people in the blacksmithing business must have been thinking about 100 years ago as the automobile was emerging. Even the big cities, like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, had more horses on the road than cars in the early 1900s, and blacksmith shops were thriving. Blacksmiths did a variety of work in both iron and wood. They shoed horses, repaired wheels, carriages, and tools; they made household items like fireplace irons, and they might even get into cabinetmaking. As we now know, most of them eventually suffered the same fate as dinosaurs.
Imagine what some blacksmiths thought when they saw early automobiles chugging by, spewing smoke and sounding like sewing machines on steroids. Did any of them have an important epiphany about the future of their business? My hope is that at least a few thought to themselves that these newfangled devices would need the care and feeding of their wheels, just as horses required for their hooves. I wonder how many had the vision and insight to become tire dealers or auto repair shops. Back in 1868, Frank A. Seiberling founded Goodyear tire and rubber in Akron, Ohio, which reigned as the world's largest tire maker for seven decades. It was bicycle and carriage tires that were the company's major products until the start of automobile tire production in 1901. Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right. ~Henry Ford
To get where we want to go in the next year takes unwavering faith and confidence. Day after day we witness politicians driving the stake of failure through the heart of success by being reactive rather than proactive, and overly compromising rather than standing on sound principles. We in the small business community can’t afford to take that path if we want a great year ahead. I recommend that you consider reading about some of the fine business history of our country, especially about what was happening between about 1860 and 1920, a period of major creation and transition. That was a time of emerging trends and pivotal events that shaped business in America including the rise of big business, the advent of mass production, the beginnings of a national market, and the consumer driven modern U.S. economy. Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance. ~Bruce Barton
There are a couple of books I recommend that may help your thinking, knowledge of history, and sense of confidence about the future. One of them is, “Dreams and Thought in the Business Community 1860-1900.” It’s about 20 years old, but you can probably find it online. The other is, “The Story of American Business: From the Pages of The New York Times,” and is currently in print. It will take you through many developments, from robber barons to corporate rock stars and the growth of a consumer society, changing women's roles, development of the labor movement, and the rise of the service economy.
I want us all to have a wonderful 2010 and beyond. Easy?—probably not. Possible?—absolutely. Those who preceded us can help us if we pay attention to their insights and experiences. Let me leave you with several of my favorite quotes regarding faith, confidence and self reliance.
- Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy. ~Norman Vincent Peale
- Don't live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable. ~Wendy Wasserstein
- It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves. ~Edmund Hillary
- Nothing reduces the odds against you like ignoring them. ~Robert Brault
- If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves. ~Thomas Alva Edison
Let me know your thoughts by e-mail: nelson@makingittv.com
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