Living in the Past?

Back in fashion?

How long does it take things to become fashionable again? It seems to me that it’s around 20-30 years. So 1970s fashions became super-trendy again by the late 90s and early 2000s, and in recent times even the neon colours of 1980s fashion have cropped back up on our high streets. 

My parents (still) have a 1970s “wizard’s hat” lampshade in their lounge, and now that they’re selling their house over forty years later, it’s become a charming vintage feature!

 “The past is a place of reference, not a place of residence”

There’s the occasional news story that crops up about older people who have lived in the same house since they were born, and the house has never been updated – no modern conveniences whatsoever, maybe even only an outside loo. There have also been documented cases of servicemen lost on remote pacific islands who, when finally found decades later, are unaware that the war they were fighting was over.

 “The past is a place of reference, not a place of residence”. We may not be literally living in the past, in a house devoid of modern conveniences, but perhaps our mind-set has become out-dated instead?

"We’re living in an era where the pace of technological change is accelerating."

We’re living in an era where the pace of technological change is accelerating. Life “before Google” seems almost unimaginable. When does the present become the past? And how can we keep up?

In my day job, I’ve been conducting mid-year reviews with my team. In many ways you’re only as good as your last project – it’s all very well having had successful projects in the past, but what is important is that projects continue to be successful. You can’t trade off your reputation for very long, it’s important to continue to learn, improve and apply that to the job in hand.

"When does the present become the past? And how can we keep up?"

Are you about to be replaced by a robot?

To really live in the present and keep up with the changes going on around us, we need a growth mindset and not a fixed mindset – something Jeff Goins and I unpacked in my recent interview with him for The Potting Shed Podcast.

If your thinking gets stuck along the lines of “this is what I’ve always done” or “this is how I’ve always done it” then the chances are you’ll soon be living in the past. That's why I recommended the book Who Moved My Cheese? in my recent post Seven Top Summer Reads. It portrays this point brilliantly!

Over the next few decades our workplaces are likely to change considerably due to advances in technology, no matter what industry we’re in and I saw a quote this week which seemed to sum up the changes this will bring: "You can't do today's job with yesterday's methods and still be in business tomorrow".

So what’s the antidote? How can we develop a growth mindset? How can we anticipate and prepare for future change? I read an article by Geoffrey Colon recently where he posed three questions to help clarify our thinking.

• Can someone do it cheaper?
• Can a computer do it faster?
• Is what I’m offering in demand in an age of abundance?

We don’t know what the future will hold, but it’s certain to be very different from “business as usual”, so taking some time to think about these questions and their implications to our lives is a good place to start. It's not something to be afraid of, but instead it's an opportunity to look for a fresh path. So don't get stuck in the past, instead let's boldly face the future!

"You can't do today's job with yesterday's methods and still be in business tomorrow".

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