“There are two classes of people who tell what is goingto happen in the future: those who don’t know and those whodon’t know they don’t know.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

Yesterday, I was watching the Steven Spielberg movie, Back to the Future, which was a phenomenal box office success, as was the sequel, Back to the Future III. Both movies took us back to the past from our present day. It was Back to the Future II that was a huge bomb. I think part of the reason it bombed so badly was that it took us into the future; a future of flying cars, not a future of the internet, iPods and cell phones.

But face it, none of us are any better at predicting thefuture. And yet we can’t help but try.We map current events to historical ones as a way to make predictions about the future. So today, we have experts predicting that the stock market will take 25 years to recover (as it did after the crash of 1929) and even that this financial crisis will spur an era of fascism in Europe (as the Great Depression did).

Maybe those things will come to pass — and maybe they won’t. Our present situation is certainly challenging, but with challenges come opportunities, if you are willing to step up to them.

Here are five bold moves that I believe will work better for you than trying to read the tea leaves. See if any of them resonate with you.

1. Start a new company. Within the last two weeks I have been contacted by six individuals starting new businesses. What better time to start a new company? The Small Business Administration is still loaning money. Two of the six I heard from, have SBA loans. Three of the six are qualifying for other “loans” and incentives like “empowerment zone tax credits” etc. There is no better time to hire talent, no cheaper time to acquire inventory, and no more humbling time than to think frugally.

2. Find a new job. Stop wondering if you are going to lose your job. If you think you will, you are probably right!Don’t let the statistics deter you — we still have a 92% employment rate in the United States. I know this isn’t an easy one to swallow (and plenty of people are really stuck) but if you are smart, hungry, and competent, there are opportunities waiting for you.

3. Start Investing. If by chance you have any money left, now is the time to invest it. Think back to 1999, before you had ever heard of Amazon, EBay, or Yahoo. Well, the stock market is now down to 1999 levels — is society really worse off than it was back then? Push aside the clutter and spin you hear in the news media, let go of your own fears for your 401(k), and think of it as investing at a discount. Party like it’s 1999: find good companies and buy shares in them.

4. Ask Questions. When times get bad, we stop asking good questions. The answers seem so obvious and pessimistic that we fall victim to assumptions. But now is the time to be inquisitive and start asking the right type of questions. Your brain is a prediction machine — if you ask the right questions, you will usually get some surprising answers. The best questions are prospective and start with how, why, and what (as opposed to retreating questions like “how did this happen,” “why me,” and “what in the world is going on”). If all seems hopeless, then try asking different questions.

5. Stop Working. What? Yes, stop working. I have always found in my life that some of my biggest ideas, greatest accomplishments, come not from spending more time at work but from time away from work. I maintain a diverse level of interests, both because I love learning but also because it helps me succeed. I often find myself applying what I learn from reading a book directly to my business. There are no new ideas; only old ideas used in new ways. You don’t need to quit your job, of course – you can start by just taking a lunch break. Try it; you may come back more relaxed and with a completely new perspective.

With the economy in the mess that it’s in, it may be very difficult to look to the future and imagine the possibilities that really exist. But if you can, you can create some huge opportunities—minus the flying DeLoreans.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 23rd, 2009 at 6:54 am and is filed under Great Ideas, Highly Recommended. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.