#105 - Seeing The Future from The Past

in 2004, Andy made 6 predictions about the future of irrigation for a presentation with a group of Landscape Architects.   --------   Today I have 3 powerful lessons from my own experience. These are 3 lessons that I feel will improve your mindset and allow you to be more flexible and open up more opportunities that come your way in the future.   Lesson #1 - Dreaming. What do you dream about? When I say dream, what I'm asking is, what do you think about? Not what you think about while you are asleep, although there is nothing wrong with that either, and the more you dream while you are awake, the more you will have similar dreams while you are sleeping.   What I mean is, what do you see in the future? Do you see the future? Do you allow yourself the space to consider what the future will look like? You can do this for every aspect of your life, and I find it to be a fun exercise. Picture your ideal life. Picture yourself getting out of bed, what do you do, what does it look like, where are you, what does it smell like, what colors are the walls, and who are you with, picture all of it. The first step in making these dreams come true is to embody them, to literally pretend as if they are real. Sometimes when I really get into this practice I may even feel goose bumps, and that's how I know I'm on the right track. So all of that being said, let's move this back to business.   I have an actual example of a vision I had back in 2005 that I'd like to share with you. I found this deep in my files last week while I was searching for something else entirely, and I was struck by it.   In 2004 & 2005 while I was working for Turf Equipment & Supply Company in Maryland as a Water Manager Representative I often visited the offices of landscape architects during their lunch hour to educate them on best irrigation practices, how to design, and new products.   Last week I found a slide deck with a specific slide that caught my eye, and actually blew my mind.   The title is, The Future of Irrigation. Remember that this was 2004.   The Future of Irrigation: #1 - ET Control #2 - Wireless Control #3 - Internet Accessibility #4 - PDA's #5 - Graphical Interfaces #6 - Flow Metering for Leak Detection & Reaction.     “If you are challenging the boundaries of any genre/industry, what came before is not all that there has to be. There can be something beyond that which is not yet imagined”   - Tom Morello, RATM   Never Work for Money Hating your job is never worth the money. The way I've gotten wealthy is not by accepting giant paychecks or titles to jobs I know I'll hate. I follow my curiosity and my passion, always. And that's meant leaving money on the table, so much money that people thought I was crazy.   Don't get trapped. Just because you know of any better options, doesn't mean they don't exist.   There is other money, there are other jobs.   New opportunities will most likely come to you.