“I am not good at predictions, especially about the future”
I have no idea who originated this quote, but it is a
favorite of mine. As we head toward the end of year seven this fall, what is
really happening around us will become even more obscure. On the time scale of
seven years we are now at the furthest point from the "Divine Light" which came
into our situation in year one, six plus years ago, and the “Divine Light” we
know is coming in the upcoming year one is still hidden from us.
Fourteen years ago at this point Muhammad Atta and his boys
where learning about big airplanes and Ken Lay and Jeffery Skilling where still
cooking the books at Enron.
Seven years ago the banking industry was still handing our liar
loans and Bernie Madoff was still using creative accounting to keep his Ponzi scheme
afloat.
So what is happening now? We have no idea.
Twenty-one years ago there was no financial crisis but instead the new set of seven years kicked off the best six economic years this country has ever seen. Remember Fed Chair, Allen Greenspan calling it "irrational exuberance" . Greenspan made that remark in 1996, the markets did not stop going up until March of 2000, spring of year six, by the way.
So what should we be doing? What does rest look like in a
Year Seven? Do we just sleep a lot? I don’t think so, remember slaves where to
be set free, land was to remain un-plowed and at the very end of the seventh year
debts where to be forgiven.
I think it’s a time of tinkering, doing those little things
you thought about over the last few years that would improve your performance.
Take the time to read a book, Take a class, try to make a prototype of that
idea you had a while back. Write out your point of view on a subject you care
about, it is likely you don’t even know what you really think about something
until you write about it.
If you have gotten yourself into a good, restful, place this
is a great time to help someone else who may be having a difficult time.
Recently in speaking with a fellow businessman about what to
be doing at this juncture, I described the position we are attempting to be in
as we enter year one as the equivalent of a football linebacker before the ball
is snapped. Having no idea which direction the play may go, the player in a completely
balanced stance is ready for anything. This is exactly the purpose of the
seventh year, to be ready for anything.
In the end it may appear you predicted the future. But that
is not the case you simply will be ready to go any direction when the Divine Light
reveals what is really going on.
Happy Tinkering
