You Don’t Know What the New Normal Will Be

There’s a lot of talk these days about the future. After all, we’re in the midst of a pandemic and we have a lot of scary issues confronting us.

There’s also a lot of talk about the future of sales and what some are wrongheadedly calling “the new normal.” That’s all we’re hearing from talking heads bloviating with certainty about something that is completely uncertain..

Nils Bohr, the Danish Nobel Prize winning physicist, famously said “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.”

What does the future hold? No one knows.

In fact, the only thing we can know for certain about the future is that any predictions we make about it now will almost certainly be wrong.

In the face of this uncertainty, there is only one thing you can control. And, that’s you.

And since we can’t predict what the future will hold, it then becomes even more important than before for you to proactively take steps to develop and improve your sales behaviors, habits. skills and mindset.

After all, only you can prepare yourself for an unknown future.

So, how can you future proof yourself?

Well, first of all, to future proof does not mean to inoculate yourself against the future. There’s no vaccine for that.

No living being is immune to the future. It’s coming for you whether you like it or not.

I suggest that you consider future-proofing to be like the opposite of child-proofing.

I remember how, as new parents, my wife and I installed child locks on kitchen and bathroom cabinets to keep two young curious minds from exploring their contents.

For you, future-proofing should mean doing just the opposite.

Instead of closing yourself off, take the locks off your mind and indulge your child-like curiosity. Set yourself the goal of constantly acquiring new knowledge to enable you with a broader array of skills to apply to the ever-evolving environments in which you will work and live.

Quite simply, to future proof means to learn. Continuously. Actively. Aggressively.

You have to make it your mission to constantly seek out new knowledge to prepare yourself to seize the opportunities the future will present and take advantage of them.
In short, continuous active learning is the only way to prosper and be happy and healthy in the face of uncertainty.

I don’t mean “uncertainty” in a pessimistic manner. Yes, we are in a tough time now. But, you’ll get through it. We’ll get through it.

Personally, the fact the future is unknowable I find to be a hugely exciting proposition.

The question for you is: what are you doing today, and tomorrow, to prepare yourself for a business environment that can’t be predicted?

Follow Andy on LinkedIn.