I can’t remember the origin, but I’ve always appreciated the elegant analogy of a car and ‘The Rear-View Mirror and the Windscreen’.

The Rear-View mirror is small and shows what is behind us. It is a reflection of the past and cannot be changed. It is somewhat important because to know where we are going, we must know where we are coming from.

The windscreen is large and in front of us. It projects our future and can be changed. It is most important because we can choose where we want to go and the windscreen projects our destiny.

I’ve become a big fan of journaling.

Journaling is a habit of daily, weekly or periodic reflection in handwriting your thoughts in a freestyle format onto paper.

After journaling was recommended by several thought leaders, I thought I should do a deep dive. Like meditation, journaling is a habit observed by so many high achievers, there must be something in it.

I’ll share with you the secret sauce I’ve discovered through journaling.

There has been a wall created in a reallocation of in-person contact being replaced by virtual contact through digital and social media platforms.

We want our relationships to have integrity, mutually beneficial outcomes and longevity. However, the digital wall often blocks the ability for these key relationships to blossom.

I was drawn to the power of repetition recently through a reference to traditions.

Traditions act as a reminder to come together and reflect. The repetition of traditions creates a cycle that passes on these learnings and experiences for generations to come.

Birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, reunions, festivals and religious dates are all traditions.

A client asked me recently if we should continue to hold board meetings monthly or whether they might be held more infrequently.

This got me thinking of the critical role traditions and repetition play in business.

You are introduced to a new contact through a mutual friend. After a great conversation, they offer to contact you for a coffee to follow up.

They take your card and commit to following up in the coming days.

And then……. nothing.

This phenomenon of people not following up on promised actions staggers me.

I would estimate that between one in ten to one in twenty people actually follow up on these commitments. That’s just 5-10% of people.

The follow up presents itself in many forms.

I was listening to an elite sport coach talk about big moments.

Big moments are what you train for and spend your career preparing for.

All of your training, preparation and time is put into being your best in these big moments.

Then the parallel to business hit me.

Most of our weeks and many of our days in business live within the bell curve of normality.

‘Business as usual’ is the norm.

This is universally the same for all of us.