Only the future is manageable...

Isn't that a great quote? I haven't got a clue who said it, but it really is true. Think about it. The past is done, over. If you really listen to people talk, you'll hear a lot of them bemoaning the fact that "they wish they knew back then..." Kinda like my hubby who predicted Microsoft being the largest computer corporation in the world. (Remember, this is the guy who went out and bought the very first home PC. Yup, he's always been a techno-geek who hides behind the facade of a guy who loves toying with carburetors. ) He was talking about Bill Gates when we were dating back in 1987.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, if we'd had money back then and bought stock, we'd be rich today. Just like, if my M-I-L had bought MS stock instead of Disney stock for my girls (though, I can't complain because Disney is never a bad investment ), they'd also be rich.

If Vic Reed had believed my grandfather had the money and sold him the house on Nantucket....

If, if, if. Drives me crazy. What about you? Bottom line is we can't change the past. It's already whizzed by us and more time is passing while we sit around, wet ourselves and spout, "If only..."

Okay, so we can't manage the past because it's done. The future can't be managed either. How come, you ask? It's right in front of us. We're here. We're now. Absolutely true, but give it a fleeting moment and it's gone by. It's an ever-changing milli-moment that simply bridges the future to the past. Blink your eyes and this present is already gone and we're into a new one.

So that leaves the future. The future is truly manageable because it hasn't happened yet and we have only to look ahead on the road to see where we're going.

Problem is that most people don't look far enough ahead. Oh sure, we all look a couple days, even a couple months, but do we ever truly look a couple years down that road?

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. The Roaring 2000's by Harry S. Dent. He follows economic trends and predicts what the rest of this decade will bring. As he says, short term predictions are hard as hell to make because there are always fluctuations in the market that react short term to current events. But long term predictions are easy to make because there are trends that might burp and stumble, but they're inevitable. Kewl concept. Spend an hour on his site. It's worth the time. www.hsdent.com Next book is Biznets by Frank Feather. Another futurist. He takes 6 companies and breaks down their structures and explains why, at the end of this decade, when ecommerce will be 50% of our national economy, these 6 businesses will be the leaders on the Internet. Finally The New Millionaires by Paul Zane Pilcher.

It was only about two months ago, but my Dad died this summer. Funny, we fought like cats and dogs when I was growing up. Mom swears it's because I'm just like him. I've come to realize that she's probably right in that, but the one thing he always had was faith in me. Faith that I was a leader, a mover, someone who could make a difference. Sounds so trite. People say it all the time, but do we really ever make a difference? In our lives? In someone else's? My Dad always believed that I was one of those people destined to make a difference and that computers would be my venue.

And this summer, while Dad was struggling in the fight of his life... er, literally, I was introduced to an opportunity that made sense. I mean, I was doing all this reading about the future being manageable and I started looking down the road. Not just my life, but trends and markets and the fact that computers are becoming so integrated into our lives that we're not really even paying attention. think of the stuff you're surrounded with. Not just your PC. That's a device in itself. But our cars are becoming more computerized. Our appliances are becoming "smarter". Heck, I think it was four or five years ago, but my dear husband computerized our lights. You know the individual timers you can buy to turn them on and off? He's got everything programmed through his computer. You don't have to program each one by itself for various time, he's got it all programmed through his computer. So technology is becoming more integrated.

Add to that the fact that I've been reading a lot and looking down that road of my future. Do I really still want to be sitting on a post as a security guard in 5 years? Yeah, the kids are a lot of fun. They do keep me on my toes (read that as awake ) but I've always said that the best job of all would be one where I get paid to stay home. (Dreams Unlimited could have been that venue if my girls had been younger or older, but that's more Monday morning quarterbacking. )

So I was introduced to a concept that's so simple it's almost too good to be true. In the most simplest terms, you set up a shop on the Internet, buy from yourself and get paid a commission for doing so. The only trick to it is learning to buy from yourself rather than hopping in the car and running to WalMart or Costco. You see, since these companies no longer have to pay for advertising in order to get me to go to a physical store, that money gets put into a "profit pool". At the end of the month, those advertising dollars get split up amongst the people who bought from themselves rather than a physical store.

Too good to be true, don't you think?

Next installment: Why it works and why you should be doing it also...