Chapter 23 Staying Ahead.
We talked about knowledge, now it is time to be as knowledgeable as anyone else, and I will tell you why. If I had to type this book on a typewriter, I would still be on my 7th Chapter, and they would look awful, with eraser marks and Twink smears all over! Fortunately, this computer-wizard can clean the page, swap paragraphs or straighten my spelling in a flash! It is fun. Likewise, if banks and airlines had to revert from computers to abacus, they would have closed their doors within days. Through automation (machinery, computers and robots), the world has achieved more productivity and growth in the last 100 years than it did in the last 500! You see how important it is to be knowledgeable, to keep up with the arts and sciences, with the world and its technology.
Change is as sure as sunrise and sunset. Nowadays we need to move and grow quickly, to hang on to the edge of fast-evolving and ever-changing economies and technologies. The vast global market of products and services are advancing so rapidly, that the things that satisfied peoples tastes 5 years ago are now obsolete. Humans are a lot better than machines which soon become outdated because they are unable to change. My record player has gone into the attic, we can hardly keep up with the new video-cameras and karaoke-sets that pour into the market. If you do not keep up with everything, you are likely to wake up one morning and find many friends ahead of you, in one way or another. In life, if you are slow and you cannot be the early birds, you cannot expect to get nice worms and may have to put up with spiky caterpillars or centipedes! There are many interesting books and magazines in the library, and I strongly recommend you to read magazines like Discover, Popular Science and Science Digest.
Edward Gibbon wrote, „All that is human must retrograde if it does not advance. I could not agree more with him. Even the most sparkling water will go stale if it is kept still; the mosquito soon comes to lay its eggs. Look at the might of moving waters, carving out Grand Canyons, and turning boulders into pebbles all over this planet. As I said in the last chapter, learning should be a never-ending process. There are always things we can do a little better each day, and old ways we can modernise regularly.
This habit of constant advancement is found in great people throughout history. Archimedes, Louis Pasteur, Edison, Einstein and many others have achieved fame and fortune by being a step ahead of their peers, in thoughts, imagination, and creation of products and services that delighted millions. Think of the people who came up with Coca Cola, Rubik's Cube, computer games, karaoke and laser discs, and now the marvellous hair-like fibre-optics, which can transmit telephone, radio, computer and TV, 4 things in one go! I read of milkbottles made in the shape of donuts for better grip, of newer and better computer programmes being designed, of deserted old buildings being turned into cosy homes for the aged. Last week, I read about a company that pioneered the breeding of the beautiful golden Arowana fish in Indonesian Borneo. Now 5,000 fishes worth US$4 million are exported to Japan yearly! It is fun to be the early birds, ahead of the pack. A glaring example is Mr Tiger Woods. At 21, he was the youngest champion ever, to win the U.S. Golf Masters Tournament. He was taught golf by his father before he started walking, and he was aspiring to win the Masters at the age of five!
In todays progressive markets, wealth is further multiplied by the powerful mass media and distribution systems. You can send your wonder-products to millions to enrich their lives, and you prosper exponentially. In olden days, you had to be born a prince to be a king. Nowadays, anyone in blue jeans (like Bill Gates of Microsoft) can live like a king if he can make a product that can influence the world; if he can think, move ahead and reach the masses with knowledge and creativity, aided by information and communication systems which are now formidable. Many self-made millionaires could smell opportunities, and satisfy peoples needs. They had the wisdom and vision to anticipate oncoming trends and to make adaptations and innovations that led to success. They did not just make better hamburgers or mousetraps; they could connect various skills and products in a new way. If you are doing things this year the same way you did them last year, you are behind the times!
Besides keeping abreast of changes, staying ahead is even more important. The worlds top 20 tennis champions and top 20 golf masters are millionaires. So is Ben Johnson, the fastest man in the world who ran 100 metres in 9.8 seconds. If you need 10.8 seconds, forget it, run a fitness club or a sports shop instead. Likewise my ex-classmate who earns US$250,000 in salary a year need not have to be 6 times better than me! If you could only stretch yourself a little to gain that winning edge, that margin is small, but the rewards are big.
Handsome rewards are awaiting, and when you have graduated from college and you are ready to wield your talents, knowledge and skills, there are thousands of opportunities in many fields. There, you can innovate and excel, and you will look at everything with new eyes - eyes of imagination and creation! By then, jobs will be radically different, many will be defunct. The following are just a few to tickle your fancies, I am sure you can invent and improve in these areas: Hotels and catering, electronics and computers, consultancy and counselling, design and fashion, music and entertainment, flowers and decoration, health and sports, personal care and medicine, communication and mass media, sales and marketing, smart tools and new products, travel and tourism, and not forgetting my childrens favourite - pets and wild life. This lesson is short but the message is strong: Stay ahead.
"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often." - Sir Winston Churchill.
"And there are opportunities everywhere for creating new business, even entire new industries, and for building and expanding old ones." - J. P. Getty.
"If you want to succeed, you have to forge new paths and avoid borrowed ones that promise success." - John Rockefeller.
"There is less and less chance for the square peg to squeeze himself into the round hole under today's complex and fast-moving conditions." - J. P. Getty.
"The man who is above his business may one day find his business above him." Daniel Drew.