Thomas Frey is a thought leader, an experimentalist, a cultural observer, a futurist. 

Thomas pushes far beyond the limits of conventional wisdom, often talking about extreme futures and building intriguing “what if” scenarios as a tool for discussing far reaching implications. His presentations not only stretch the imagination but also challenge current thinking.

I always enjoy taking note of his  prognostications for the future. Here are a few:

His Comments: What are we doing with all our information?

Today, we have access to more information than anyone ever has. Within seconds, we have the ability to read about new whale migrations and catch the stats on last nights game. What are we doing with all of that information? How much can we really process?

My Comments: What trend watcher John Naisbitt had so eloquently asserted back in the early 80's still runs true: 

"... We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge." 

His elegant quote reminds us that, although we may be surrounded by information, we must still actively seek out knowledge if we want to achieve true understanding. It’s not enough to simply consume information; we must also take the time to process it, reflect on it, and apply it to our own lives. Only then can we hope to attain the wisdom that we crave.

My Comments: Very true!

Our daily life decisions also give us opportunities to become better at what we do.

Most of our decisions are made out of habit. However, by bringing our choices in the conscious domain, we can evaluate them, assess their impact and indulge in self-reflection.

Such steps eventually lead to better decisions and outcomes.

My Comments: Very interesting! The same question can also be asked, how many of the current workplace structures will still be in place?

I remember vividly these elegant quotes from futurist Jim Carroll:

"... The rapid rate of knowledge growth is leading to a rapid career change – hence, the Australian observation that “65% of children in pre-school will be employed in roles and jobs that don’t exist today.”

Given my understanding of change, I’d happen to believe that to be true..."

“... Workers of the future will change jobs 19 times during their lives — and parallel careers become the norm as people extract themselves from professions that are becoming extinct.”

That’s from the Daily Telegraph — and I think I’m already witnessing career extinction occurring all around me..."

His Comments: Predicting the trends of the future and reading the patterns and signs of our times takes knowledge, patience, and a bit of art. It's not so much about accuracy of the prophecy, so to speak, but getting ourselves intellectually attuned, mentally prepared and future-ready for new world scenarios on the horizon.

I particularly like what I am reading:

"A common belief is that knowledge is power. It's not.

Knowledge is ubiquitous in the Internet Age and thus grants no special privileges, no unique power.

Certainly we need to have knowledge and stay current. But the real power comes from what we do with knowledge.

In other words, in the 21st century power comes from our ability to think... "

~ Michael Durr, author of 'My Brain, My Future';

To me, the best way to describe it is that knowledge is not measured by what's stored in your headspace; it's always defined by your productivity, i.e. what you do and what you don't do!

Think about it!

I like what I am reading:

"Just like Christopher Columbus or Marco Polo, I believe each of us came to this planet hardwired to explore, to push out, to grow and to evolve -- to discover new parts of ourselves and our world we have not seen before...

... Sometimes the greatest discoveries are made by exploring inner space, in the cracks and crevices of our belief system, which has everything to do with how we perceive ourselves and our world.

In other words, new discovery is also an inside job that invites us to see our lives and our world, right where we are, from a new perspective...

... As Thoreau wrote, "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."

Given this perspective, what you see when you look at your life and your world truly is a work of art.

You really don't have to go all that far on your voyage of discovery to find something new.

You just need to have new eyes.... "

~ Dennis Merritt Jones, award-winning author, keynote speaker, spiritual mentor, writing in his blog at 'The Huffington Post';

Think about it!

The image of achievement in your headspace is real, especially when you vividly imagine it, ardently desire it, and sincerely believe it, with all your sensory impressions.

When you euthusiastically act upon it, it must inevitably come to pass.

To sports psychologists and competitive sportsmen, this is the essence of creative visualisation and mental rehearsal.

This is based on the research work of neuroscientist Dr. Karl Pribram of Stanford University.

As I read the following expression, my personal interpretation is as follows:

Everything in life is possible; it's just a question of Strategy and Discipline.

In the expression, number 1 to 3 represent 'strategy' and number 4 to 5 represent 'discipline'.

Having a "strategy' means you know where you are now, where and why you want to go "there", and how best - and what resources you need - to get "there".

That's to say, you have the requisite toolkits to formulate, evaluate and tweak your progress on the forward trajectory.

Having the 'discipline' means you know how to stay on course by putting in the sweat equity of following up and following through what you have set out to do in your game plan, with intense effort and focused execution.

Oh, Yeah! These success quotes will change your life!

This phenomenon is a classic exemplar of street smart trumps book smart!

Interestingly, entrepreneur and 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' author Robert Kiyosaki has written a book, where he expanded his belief that the traditional school system was created to churn out 'employees' ... those 'A' students who read well, memorise well and test well ... and not the creative thinkers, visionaries and dreamers - entrepreneurs-in-the-making ... those 'C' students who grow up to be the innovators and creators of new ideas, businesses, applications and products.

The book is entitled, 'Why 'A' Students Work for 'C' Students and Why 'B' Students Work for the Government'!

I fully concur.

Public speaking is a vital and critical personal leadership resource.

The ability to articulate your ideas and insights in a communication initiative is indeed a competitive advantage.

I enrolled in the USA-based 'Adventures in Attitudes' (which had a public speaking component) back in the early eighties when I was a young manager.

On hindsight, it was pivotal in sustaining my professional career trajectory into general management and the boardroom.

REMEMBER WELL, LIMITS ARE OFTEN SELF-IMPOSED!

TO BRING TO LIFE A QUICK SAMPLING OF THE TIMELESS WISDOM OF NAPOLEON HILL, JUST CALIBRATE YOUR GPS:

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

"When you close the door of your mind to negative thoughts, the door of opportunity opens to you.

"A positive mind finds a way it can be done; A negative mind looks for all the ways it can’t be done.”

“Remember that your dominating thoughts attract, through a definite law of nature, by the shortest and most convenient route, their physical counterpart. Be careful what your thoughts dwell upon.”

“Any ideas, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought.”

“Set your mind on a definite goal and observe how quickly the world stands aside to let you pass.”

Talking about the significance of goal striving, I like to add Jim Rohn, one of Tony Robbins' early mentors,  to drive home my point.

Here's are some of Jim Rohn's words of wisdom, which resonate with the goal striving phenomenon and the power of the creative success mechanism:

"Goal-setting is powerful because it provides focus. It shapes our dreams. It gives us the ability to hone in on the exact actions we need to perform to achieve everything we desire in life."

“The big challenge is to become all that you have the possibility of becoming. You cannot believe what it does to the human spirit to maximize your human potential and stretch yourself to the limit.”

“Life and business is like the changing seasons. You cannot change the seasons, but you can change yourself. Therein lies the opportunity to live an extraordinary life – the opportunity to change yourself.”

"The man who conceives himself to be a 'failure-type person' will find some way to fail, in spite of all his good intentions, or his willpower, even if opportunity is literally dumped in his lap."

~ Dr Maxwell Maltz, writing in his Psycho-Cybernetics classic;

Isn't this very ironic, for man, as Dr Maltz put it so eloquently, is "engineered for success", and yet there are folks out there who choose rather to be conditioned for failure?

No wonder, the famed Austrian psychologist Dr Viktor Frankl, whom Dr Maltz revered in his classic, made this astute observation:

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

Frankly, and interestingly, each and every one of us was always born a champion, drawing evolutionary cues from the Spermatozoa Analogy.

GOAL STRIVING

In retrospect, this was the vital part of the classic, Psycho-Cybernetics, by Dr Maxwell Maltz, that really struck a chord with me, as I encountered it for the first time during the late seventies, for it enhanced my understanding of goal setting, as I have had been taught earlier by the Dynamics of Goal Setting program.

[As mentioned earlier, my participation in the Dynamics of Goal Setting actually led me to the work of Dr Maxwell Maltz.]

Dr Maltz wrote:

"... That's the trick. To find your purpose. To discover your mission. To find the juice of life that will drive and motivate you to take action and fulfill any desire. How is this done?

Be outcome specific!

Decide specifically what you want, take some form of action immediately for its attainment, and use the following conditions to develope your goals:

1. Never question or doubt your ability to accomplish any goal. If you do, you will sabotage your efforts before you begin.
2. When compiling your written goals, let your pen run freely, and leave any fears behind.
3. Review your thoughts and feelings on what really excites you and what you truly enjoy doing.

Why? Because successful people love what they do and view their work as a labour of love, not a job. Why waste your time doing things you don't enjoy or aren't passionate about? Put your energy, effort and time into finding your niche in life.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• What do I enjoy and love doing?
• What really interests me?
• Who do I want to become?
• What skills and training will I need to learn?
• What resources do I have that can help me?
• What resources do I need?
• Where will I be a year from now? Three years from now?

Then ask yourself, "What specifically do I want?"...

Once you have examined these questions and arrived at some possible answers, use the following outline as a guide for developing your written goals:

WRITTEN GOAL GUIDELINE

1. Define goal and be as specific as you can.
2. Your goal must be controlled by you and not dependent upon the service of others for its attainment.
3. Develop an "evidence procedure" to check your progress.
4. Your goal must be your desire and not what someone else wants for you.
5. Your goal must be ecological for you, meaning are there any downsides or negative consequences which will prevent you from taking a new set of actions.

This is how it's done. You write the blueprint, make your choices and begin the chase.... "

This is really a masterpiece from Dr Maltz!

Well, as I read to process the elegant quote as appended below, I must say, Dr Maxwell Maltz was absolutely right!

“The most liberating of all thoughts is disregard or “disconcern” for what other people think.

Famous mail-order impresario and entrepreneur J. Peterman wrote (in his autobiography Peterman Rides Again); “Once you realize that most people are keeping up appearances and putting on a show, their approval becomes less important.”

Excessive concern over what other people think inhibits personality more than any other factor.”

My perennial favourite counter-measure against any negative opinion is applying my adaptation of the popular NLP Swish Pattern.

I visualise, in my mind's eye, with vivid colours and the sensory impressions of sights, sounds and even smells of the person spewing the negative opinion (placed in a bubble).

First, I increase the image size of both entities in my visualisation, and gradually shrink them down to teeny weeny size, and then I blow them up into splintereens, in the tradition of special effects of a Hollywood blockbuster!

It works for me all the time!

TOP CHALLENGES FOR FUTURE LEADERS

Interesting and insightful read, to keep yourself on top of the game!

WHAT FUTURISTIC LEADERS THINK AND DO?

"Futuristic leaders ACHIEVE results because they truly BELIEVE a different future is possible. They CHANGE their own and their organiza­tion's behavior, habits, and culture, in order to obtain their collective DREAM.

Futuristic leaders fully EXPECT to reach their goal -- and also fully "expect the unexpected" along the way -- because they unswervingly FOCUS on that goal.

Aware that reaching the future requires that they and their organizations GROW -- both mentally and spiritually -- futuristic leaders HEAR things: they listen intently for clues and pieces of vital information that will guide them in that growth.

Futuristic leaders vividly IMAGINE what the future will be like, what needs to change to get there, and how the charted course might need to vary along the route.

They JUSTIFY their mission, not only based on profitable returns, but in the proper ethics and values that will bring it to fruition.

Futuristic leaders KNOW both what they know and what they don't know, and what more they and their teams will still need to know in the future. They const­antly LEARN, day by day, decision by decision, as they move forward.

Futuristic leaders MOTIVATE themselves, and inspire those around them to do the same, to adventurously NAVIGATE previously uncharted territory. They ORGANIZE and optimize every available capacity and resource to help them PERSEVERE until every part of the mission is accomplished.

Futuristic leaders always QUESTION their advisors, their information, and themselves. Then they can best RESPOND to challenges and opport­unities in ways that STRATEGIZE the most responsible and best possible future outcomes.

Futuristic leaders TEACH everything they know to the highest-qualified teams of individuals. They UPLIFT them to VISUALIZE and drive towards their collective future.

As well, in today's "webolutionary" Internet Age, futuristic leaders encourage their teams to literally WEBIFY their organizations into value-creating networks, or "biznets."

Futuristic leaders also XEROGRAPH themselves: they "clone" or duplicate their own abilities and processes in others, to ensure ongoing growth and continuity through yet another generation of futuristic leaders.

Finally, futuristic leaders repeatedly YIELD consistent and spectacular results, and ZOOM their organizations speedily to ever-succeeding peaks of success."

~ Dr Frank Feather, futurist and asuthor of Futuristic Leadership A-Z';

[What I have liked most about the foregoing wonderful (though belated) book was the author's ingenuity of using the whole alphabet system to illustrate twenty six key action steps to help one prepare for the future. 'To prepare' means to 'see' & 'map' the future.

The author also wrote the earlier fascinating book during the late eighties, entitled 'G-Forces: The 35 Global Forces Restructuring Our Future'..]