Another Fortune Cookie Friday is upon us! For those of you not yet familiar, every other Friday or so, I take the
profound wisdom found within a fortune cookie and interpret its meaning relative to thriving and surviving as a solo small business owner.
Today’s thought to ponder: “The best prophet of the future is the past.”
Do you agree? I’m 50/50 on this one! Yes, history can – and often does – repeat itself. But I believe that we, as entrepreneurs, control whether it does or does not.
Play it again, Sam
When something’s working in your business, you naturally keep doing it. In this sense, the past certainly does dictate your future actions and predict the outcomes you would expect. So don’t be on a mission to fix what isn’t broken – but always be open to making changes that can bring even better results. Even the best practices can get stale over time, so keep an open mind to fresh ideas.
Lesson learned
As a business owner, you’re going to make some mistakes. Whenever you do, you have 2 courses of action to choose from:
a. Don’t admit it, blame someone else, and/or ignore its impact.
or
b. Accept responsibility, consider its effects and make a change
History will certainly repeat itself if you choose a. Sticking your head in the sand (or other comparable places), pointing the finger at someone else, and dismissing the ill effects or lack of results as “bad luck” will put you in a vicious cycle of poor decisions.
On the other hand, holding yourself accountable, carefully evaluating what went wrong and why, and recognizing how it has hindered your business will lead you to making positive changes. And that will stop bad history in its tracks!
Final thoughts from an Insatiable Solopreneur
None of us are perfect. None of us will ever be. But, when we accept that and open ourselves to improvement, we can be in control of our potential and our ability to succeed.
What do you think? How much control do you believe you have in your future as an entrepreneur? Does history always repeat itself?
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Hi Dawn, first I love the concept of the Friday Fortune Cookie. That’s awesome. Second, wasn’t it Einstein who said: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? To your suggestions I would add: ask for, and be open to, difficult feedback.
Hi Dominique! Thank you! And I love the quote that you shared. 🙂
I completely agree with your recommendation…Not easy to proactively ask for feedback and maybe learn that you’ve got a lot of room for improvement, but it is very important to have a real understanding about what you’re doing well – or not so well!