Traveling Through Trend Territory!

Hi Gordon!

I'm trying to picture you with a mohawk.... :)

That's a pretty wild fashion statement nowadays, I'm not sure how it was perceived in 1966, but I'm sure it was also pretty wild!

> Take kids. Every 20th century TEEN
> generation has rebelled in some way against
> their parents generation. Usually in three
> discernible ways:

> Clothing. Music. Technology.

Yes, this seems to make sense.... With me, it was mostly in music, and maybe a touch of technology (yeah, at one stage I was a young teenage computer geek before Silicon Valley made it hip). :)

Oh, I'd add hair, I guess that's kind of an extension of "clothing" in a sense.... Like you with your mohawk, or the "duck tail" with kids in the 1950s, or some of the wild hair styles you see on some of the music videos today.... :)

> So, if you use the PARADE OF LIFE and those
> simple drawings as tools, you can do several
> things.

> You can see what trends could be coming, it
> is no secret that the pig in the python, the
> BABY BOOMERS are getting gray...so the trend
> to STAY YOUNG translates into products that
> include Viagra, Hair Color/replacements, and
> a plethora of anti-aging products.

Yes, definitely demographics is an easy to spot trend.... (eg. Baby Boomers, and the "Baby Boom Echo" - the kids of Baby Boomers, now ranging from about age 10 to their early 20s....)

> Young people (college age) will be the first
> to explore the new technologies, especially
> upper class as in financial, will be the
> first to test the technology. There is your
> bellweather.

I've wondered whether, as the Baby Boom Echo generation reach their 20s, will we see some kind of political "radicalism" (like we saw in the late 1960s), as most of them reach the age of "rebellion"? It's something I wonder....

People have commented that the Baby Boom Echo generation seem so conservative compared to their parents' generation, but I wonder if that could be because most of them are still too young to have reached the rebellious stage....?

I could be wrong here.... But it's something I wonder about....

> A trend in ENTERTAINMENT? Reality TV. It is
> still emerging because PRODUCTION costs are
> so low, almost anyone with an idea can get
> it started. Just promise a big winner and
> you'll get millions of entries for people to
> do almost anything.

Hmmm.... Yes, that show I wrote about a while ago, which was made for Australian TV, "The Money Game," was in that genre.... I thought that was interesting, mainly because I felt you could learn something from it....

> Trends are easy to spot. Do a PICTOGRIGM of
> the Parade of Life.

> See the shootings in schools throughout the
> USA and watch the HOMESCHOOLING stats soar
> through the roof...one of the fastest
> growing trends in education.

> See the media hype up Hoof and Mouth
> disease, and watch how exotic (or as we old
> hillbillies used to call it, GAME) meats
> start selling.

Wow, that's interesting, Gordon. The connection between the latest bad news in the media, and trends to flee from the danger.... It makes sense.

> Dien, one thing I don't see being used is a
> simple tool known as a PERSONAL PROGRAM
> PLAN, it is a daily, weekly, monthly,
> quarterly, yearly measurement of a person's
> progress in certain areas.

> I also think that Tony Robbins is correct
> when he says we have a tendency to
> overestimate how much we can do in one year,
> and underestimate how much we can do in a
> decade.

> I advise using the power of the CUMULATIVE
> effort, so pick short term projects that can
> be built upon...can be used as a foundation
> for future products or services or
> lifestyles.

Yes, I think each successful project -- even it is only a small success -- is a rung which you can step on to reach the next higher rung on the ladder....

> You would be hard pressed to find better
> advice on this than that of Bill Myers
> between 95 and 99. If you have his
> newsletters, you'll find tremendous ideas on
> LIFESTYLE and quick project development. It
> is an excellent resource.

Thanks Gordon for pointing that out!

> Well, just wanted to add a few pennies to
> the pot.

> You are certainly one of the best read
> people I know, please continue to share with
> us what other chunks of gold you have mined.

Gordon, yes, a part of my personality seems to be that I am definitely an information miner.... I like to know about everything, but there aren't enough hours in the day! So I tend to focus on different areas of knowledge (eg. physics, stock market investment, etc.), usually for several years at a time....

Right now, I'm focusing on business and entrepreneurship, and finding out all I can. I won't feel satisfied until I can apply what I know and succeed, as proof that I really understand it....

I guess for me, it's kind of like climbing a new mountain.... If you're a mountain climber, part of the thrill is "conquering" the mountain. However, the mountains I "climb" are areas of knowledge.... I've only successfully "conquered" the mountain when I have repeated success in that area, to "prove" to myself that I've understood it.... :)

- Dien