Awareness: Key to Business, Job and Career Success in Hyper-Human Economy

Who said this:

"Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness."

Was it -

• John Kennedy?
• Pope Paul?
• Martha Stewart?
• James Thurber?
• Clint Eastwood?

Any of them might have; James Thurber, the late great humorist, did. It's good advice ... one of the 10 key skills needed for success in an economy that is automating much of what we do with our heads.

Conscious awareness will be gained by technology very slowly if ever. If well-honed, observation makes any human more valuable. The more aware or perceptive we are, the better we can --

• Notice problems and opportunities
• Keep focused on what needs doing NOW
• Keep ourselves and others safe and secure
• Enjoy work and daily life
• Generate the enthusiasm that makes others want to follow

As Thurber observed, looking back in anger robs one of present-moment energy; so does looking back in regret or even satisfaction (if overdone). A right-now focus is the key to success and fulfillment.

Living too much in the future also enervates the present -- whether the future focus is one of fear, resignation, or anticipation.

Three key practices help to concentrate the laser force of one's perception:

1. Stop drifting into the past or future. Of course it pays to examine the past and plan ahead; but excessive time spent in either domain tends to draim one's vitality. When you find yourself drifting, bring yourself back by the scruff of the neck.
2. Become physically more active. Move, talk, listen, try things out, accomplish. Engage all your senses; and use all your motor capabilities, large-muscle to small.
3. Engage your emotions and mind in healthy ways. Even entertain anger about the past and fear of the future, but do so pro-actively; get to the bottom of things, then get them behind you and move on.

The basic idea is to take conscious control of your perception and motor abilities. See, hear, feel, and move more aggressively. Be a vital part of "right now."