Commercial jets cruise at about 600 miles per hour, which is the equivalent of ten miles per minute, or three-and-a-third city blocks per second.

At that speed, the pilot does not look back. And at the speed at which the world is changing, you shouldn't look back either. Like a jet pilot, you need to concentrate on what's up ahead.

To understand just how fast the world is changing, consider this. All the knowledge acquired up until 1750 doubled by the year 1900. That was 150 years.

It doubled again in just 50 years, between 1900 and 1950. The next time it doubled, it took only fifteen years, from 1950 to 1965. It doubled again between 1975 and 1980 — a period of just five years. That is rapid change.

And in the last 28 years, mankind's knowledge has been multiplying beyond comprehension!

A number of years ago, Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock, presented a dramatic illustration of this by describing the history of mankind compacted into one calendar year.

According to Toffler, we could say that right now it's midnight on New Year's Eve, and twelve months ago on January 1st, man appeared on earth. It wasn't until November 19th, nearly 10€ months later, that fire was first used!

On December 10, just three weeks ago, the first pictures were carved on the walls of caves! Only two days ago, agriculture was developed! Yesterday the Pyramids were built!

Now it's New Year's Eve, and at 1:30 this afternoon Greece came to power. Just 2€ hours ago, at 9:30 this evening, the printing press was invented. Less than an hour ago, the Industrial Revolution began. And only twenty minutes ago, the first airplane was flown.

Five minutes ago, the computer was invented. One minute ago, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.

And within the last 30 seconds, we've seen Watergate, women's rights, Reagan, Clinton, George W. Bush, the 9-11 attacks, the fall of Saddam Hussein, the Iraq War, the housing crisis, and everything else in today's newspaper.

So, in a sense, you are a pilot. You're piloting yourself — your personal life, your career, and perhaps your family — through a rapidly changing world. Once you recognize this, and accept change as a natural, positive force, you'll begin seeing new opportunities, experiencing less frustration and stress, and living life more fully.

Here's what you can do:

Spend as little time as possible peering into your mental rear view mirror.

Learn from and then forget the past. Concentrate on what lies ahead.

€ JOEL H. WELDON & ASSOCIATES, INC. http://www.SuccessComesInCans.com €