We are living in challenging times. Business is always in flux. No matter what we do for a living, consistently hitting goals gets harder and harder because the end zone keeps moving. More and more at dizzing speeds, shifting in a flash.

Due to the constant discontinuous changes we face, we have to stay ahead of the curve. Everyday we hear about industries shrinking and businesses closing their doors due to overseas competition. Just this month the Stock Market's sudden dip caught a lot of folks off guard.

What are you doing to respond to these sudden challenges and unexpected turns?

No matter where you lead, around the kitchen table or the board room, we all share the fall-out from not staying ahead of the curve. If we want to unleash our greatest potential then the time is now. Do so armed with a new set of leadership and futuring skills.

Many of us are seasoned pros, we've Been There, Done That. Hopefully learning from our mistaken turns and side-tracking detours. No doubt our wins will give us a leg up on turning the tides of our times, while securing a future for our business. Perhaps like so many of my cohorts, we want to have a hand in crafting our own future... and for generations to come too.

Entering the New Sixties has been quite an experience. On the one hand the world appears to be heading towards another showdown with the dark side. At the same time more and more of us... at all ages... are standing up to be counted on the issues that truly matter for the long haul.

Thankfully we are entering our new sixties in droves. As we do, we are morphing our 1960's values and visions into what I lovingly have called the New Sixties' Charitable TimesSM. Being Boomers or on the cusp, we won't follow any pre-existing rules - we'll make up our own as we go. Now in our mature years we are in positions of power and influence across all industries. We are leaders in our fields. We can and will shift the paradigm from power over to power with, creating a future we can be proud to live and leave. We can be the models of service and give back, truly doing well doing good.

Can't Get No Satisfaction

Chronologically approaching or entering our sixties is also new and very challenging. This new decade tests our mettle and requires a different kind of courage which takes us where we've never been before.

You'd think Robert, a sudden-wealth 49er, would be thrilled with his life just the way it is: a long-time client roster, a new romantic relationship and great kids from a prior marriage. Plus with the passing of his mother, suddenly he found himself without a financial worry for the rest of his years. But something was missing. Secretly feeling unsatisfied, his productivity lackluster and worried that those far younger would outshine him, he came seeking answers.

Now financially secure, he wasn't sure if he wanted to sell his business or pass the baton. Before we could get his business rocking 'n rolling into the future, we had to discover what would jump start his juices and keep him highly engaged again.

Having to own the past to fuel new possibilities also takes great courage. That means taking a hard look at our own lives and how we conduct business. Whether you are a soloist, firm partner or a Mega-corporation, we as leaders have to be engaging everyone in a conversation about What's Next?!

It's All About You!

What about your satisfaction quotient? Unfortunately Career Innovation magazine's recent global poll of workers tells us that over half of the workforce Can't Get No Satisfaction.

According to the survey:

55% are dissatisfied with achievement at work 56% are dissatisfied with their work-life balance.

Are you living the life that you thirst for?
Do you feel significant as well as successful?
Are you serving your customers or just doing time?
Do you reap purpose as well as profits in your life?
Are you living your greatness and leading others to do the same?

If there's even a little hesitation in answering "yes" to all these questions, its time you discover how you can Future ForwardSM while deepening your joy and expanding the impact of your life and work.

The first step in putting the future in your own hands is always taking stock of your current Quality of Life -- your personal satisfaction levels and your business' probability of keeping its doors open. Reality Checks also take great courage.

Increasingly many of us have passed the lower rungs of Maslow's Hierarchy. Some of us have had some hairpin turns to maneuver. But we're all still here. The future is just before us. We're in the driver's seat, so it's time to take quantum leaps forward.

It's going to take a new awareness, a re-calibrated mind set and skills to match to ensure that we can rock into a greater future. If you are serious about attracting more ideal clients, greater income and remarkable opportunities that make a real difference... while taking more time off and having more fun... then listen up!

Eliminate Future Shock

Getting a handle on current trends and what they potentially mean for your business and for those who keep you in business is what will fuel not only your business' longevity and sustainability, but also ignite your greatest work and satisfaction.

I'm not alone anymore in my exhortations that Future ForwardingSM is a critical factor in securing a greater future. Great minds think alike.:)

Ameriprise and Fidelity's retirement ad campaigns are right on target, their images and sparse phrasing speak volumes to the values and remembered times of the 1960's. I asked some boomers what they thought of the ads. Thoughtfully they said if they were choosing firms, they'd probably check them out. Why? Because "They get me. And took the time to find out."

My point? If you want to stay ahead of the curve of change, then you must stay in sync with those who keep you in business and keep your life worth living. Who are they? Do you know? For sure they all want to be heard. Isn't it time you find out?

All of us are a powerhouse of voting and buying power. Most of us are in positions where we can catalyze change for the better. So if we take the time to listen and be heard, together amazing and wonderful things can happen.

Always the best company to be in, my favorite team of leadership gurus and authors, James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner in their latest book, Leadership Legacy, are also now imploring us to stand up -- to be the stewards for the future. Their newest book also speaks to the pairing of leadership with futuring. I couldn't be happier to read that they too support the notion that leaders have the responsibility and destiny to lead a conversation about the future. Let's face it, if we don't, we'll head up where we are headed. Oops. Not what any of us would describe as ideal working or living conditions.

Although we face tough times on all front, we must have courage. And we must be everything we can be. These times demand that we all take a reality check as to where we are in our lives, where our business or career is headed and ask ourselves if we are serving those who keep us in business as well as those who make our lives work. Only then can we make Ameriprise's New Sixties' promised images the real deal.

We are fortunate for we are the leaders we've been waiting for. Now is time to start a new story about you, your business, your plans for the future. Just think, every time one more of us gets back in sync with what matters most and with our own internal rhythms, a new ripple is sent out across all energy channels so that the "whole" of us, our organizations and our planet get more in sync... Amazing but Quantum Physics assures us that this is true.

As before, we as a generation have quite an impact on making change happen. With so many of us in positions where we can truly impact change-- spreading at unheard of speeds across vast networks in a flash, getting in sync is crucial if we are to stay in the game. So if you want to stay in business and have the future you envision, you've got to have the facts and understand trends before they engulf you, leaving you in the dust.

You know that there's no passing the buck. Not us. It's our turn. Time happened so fast. The future became the past. Here we are, at the leading edge. So what now? It's time to start planning for What's Next.

I recommend four ways to ensure a Rock Solid FutureTM for you and your business: