Backing Your Judgement

Filtering the 24/7 news cycle

As the 24/7 news cycle goes into full “Clinton v Trump” over-drive this week, and the various news outlets editorialise and theorise many and varied negative impacts that these global events could, should, will have on our lives… it’s a reminder of the importance of staying the course, managing the controllable and not letting the hype distract you from your goals.

I observed two interesting takes on the US election this morning. One involved a forum of highly credentialed journalists where, the final word of wisdom on the US election was left to the following Woody Allen quote, “More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.”

The other take, was from an average middle-aged woman living in the mid-west of the USA, whose family and community had been adversely affected by globalisation. She felt, like her parents and grandparents before her, there have always been issues that her family and community have had to deal with, and notwithstanding the negative messages flowing from the 24/7 new cycle, that her world will survive and she will continue to work to improve her family and communities situation no matter which of the two nominees is elected.

It’s an interesting comparison between those who make a profession out of observing, editorialising and selling a message to those who live and deal with these circumstances as part of their day-to-day existence. I think we can all empathise with this woman’s down to earth wisdom.

News is a supply and demand commodity, and the 24/7 news cycle is a victim of competitive demand with finite supply. So “opinion” is sold to meet the 24/7 demand cycle. Unfortunately, as evidenced by the above journalistic forum, the supply is heavily weighted to negative “opinion” because it sells.

Backing your judgement & managing what you can control

Every day I deal with people who back themselves to do those things necessary to achieve the outcomes that they have planned to achieve. They don’t procrastinate and spend a lot of time worrying about those things they can’t manage and influence. They concentrate their efforts on the controllable and what they can influence. They engage the 24/7 news cycle for the information that they feel helps them to manage but they generally discount the “opinion” and back their own view of the impact of these events. With the positive attributes of energy, passion and hard work, they continue to successfully achieve in both ongoing activities and new opportunities.

So no matter how negative the 24/7 news cycle message, back yourself, stick to what you know you do well and concentrate your energy on managing those things that you can influence. People have successfully navigated global events such as world wars, depressions and cyclical downturns by sticking to these principals and not let their journey be materially influenced by these negative “what if” messages.