Everyone wants long term success. But it is elusive for most.

Long term success is dependent on knowing where you are now and where you are headed. Then closing the gap. Frequently. Continuously.  Whether it’s your business, your career or your life at home., it’s easy to get off track, lose touch or get buried under. Without a true sense of where you are in the moment, it is impossible to realize your dreams or be a leader in your field.

Re-calibrate your profound knowledge

The only way we can take 100% responsibility for sustaining our success is to keep re-calibrating-in every aspect of our lives and organizations.

Key to successful recalibration is to acquire what my dear departed mentor, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, coined as Profound Knowledge. This umbrella phrase emphasizes understanding change and how to measure it, being aware of emerging trends and shifts, and learning how to apply this knowledge to leading and sustaining long term success.

Bottom line: If we don’t acquire Profound Knowledge we cannot know how to prepare for and leverage coming change, thus how to sustain our success long term.

Understanding change means understanding shifts in our personal world as well as tracking trends that capsize us, overtake us, or cause us to flounder.

Learning the Hard Way

Unfortunately one of my Gen X male clients learned this the hard way. A rising star in his field and recently married, he was planning far a great future for his kids, tons of time for fun and all the trappings of success. As if out of the blue, the rug got pulled out from under him. His “Happy Homemaker” wife fled, saying I’m out of here!

Somewhere along the way there was a breakdown or perhaps many small fissures below the surface. Had they been recalibrating an checking in with each other, communicating the truth of what was so for each of them…perhaps they could have saved their marriage…or at least ended it with love, grace, and forgiveness.

Even in the most secure relationships, unexpected change happens to ruffle our plans. A recently returned to work mother of teenage kids reported that her new career is now going gangbusters and she no longer worries about the empty-nest . But, the new ripple in her life is that her once very successful husband, in his late 40’s, now faces an unknown future. Surprised by the shifts in his industry, “suddenly” he and his business partner are facing the probability of closing their doors. What once appeared to be the sure path to their dreams, is no crumbling beneath them.

Change is inevitable. If you can learn what Profound Knowledge is and apply it you can avoid these same pitfalls and NOT LEARN THE HARD WAY!

What steps are you going to take to future cast your long term success?

I often wonder…how would I bring up my grandkids today? Certainly differently than their parents when they were growing up in the 1970s and 80s. I parented them with optimism because the future showed so much promise and possibility. Only later on did I come to realize that I did my kids a disservice by not preparing them for the derailing truth that we citizens can’t always trust what our elected representatives say, much less those we trust the most.

As (grand)parents, we want to protect our kids’ innocence and teach newer generations to emulate leaders and ideal citizens…those who know what’s real and what’s not, who will stand up for what’s “right” and just, freedom, equality and opportunity for all – the basic tenets of the American way…

I clearly remember the day my son told me “I’ve seen the Wizard (of Oz)!” I knew instantly that his innocence was gone. Even as he brings up his young family now, he too carries the torch of hope and possibility for them but knows not to trust wizards.

And so it goes, we keep keepin’ on. Until one day when the Wizard is thrown out of the magical castle for being a fraud! It’s time we cleaned out all of our castles and towers. Don’t you agree?

A few weeks ago New York Senate’s Dean Skelos and his son were arrested on corruption charges.

In another notable failure of integrity and leadership, look to J. Dennis Hastert, the former elected official who, for eight years, held the title of Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (third in line to the presidency, I might add). This current Washington Lobbyist was said to be an upstanding role model, yet has just been indicted by federal prosecutors on charges that he violated banking laws (and lied to authorities) in order to pay $3.5 million to an unnamed person to cover up “past misconduct.” Though innocent until proven guilty, reports suggest this was hush money paid to a man Mr. Hastert is alleged to have sexually abused decades ago.

Then there’s the unraveling FIFA disaster and the final shoe dropping with FIFA president Sepp Blatter resigning as its head after a 17-year career. That career has ended in infamy due to a U.S. Justice Department corruption investigation for wire fraud, racketeering, and money laundering.

The congressional castle is truly turning my stomach these days. It’s past time to vote out all the self-serving wizards choosing hatred and power abuses above actual leadership and democratic representation.

In late December, before heading into surgery, I heard the tiny news snippet that twisted up my insides: how at the 11^th hour the Arizona senators had slipped a mickey in our holiday drinks so those in congress and the country wouldn’t even notice their trickery.

Arizona has the second-largest Native American population in the U.S. with 22 sovereign Native American communities inhabiting nearly a quarter of the state’s land. As the longest currently serving member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Arizona Senator John McCain is said (on his own website) to have “tirelessly supported the bedrock principles of tribal sovereignty and Indian self-governance and self-determination.”

If I took those words at face value, I would automatically believe that this elected politician was an admirable American role model. A leader enabling the “American Dream.” A hero rectifying the wrongs done to a people who were the country’s original citizens who taught the “founding immigrants” how to survive and thrive on this land before being systematically undermined and devalued by those very same newcomers they had welcomed.

But actions speak louder than words.

As it turns out, Mr. McCain is one of several politicians whose behaviors have included sneaky actions that continue stripping Native Americans of sacred lands, areas of our planet they have sustained for centuries with reverence and care. Lydia Millet shares the latest abomination in her NY Times opinion article, “Selling Off Apache Holy Land.”

In December 2014, Congress promised to hand the title for land in Arizona to a private, Australian-British mining concern owned by the company Rio Tinto, who has coveted the area for the high-value ores beneath the land. “A fine-print rider trading away the Indian holy land was added at the last minute to the must-pass military spending bill, the National Defense Authorization Act. By doing this, Congress has handed over a sacred Native American site to a foreign-owned company for what may be the first time in our nation’s history.” Who slipped the giveaway language into the bill? Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona. At the 11th hour.

Millet further suggests “It’s worth noting that Rio Tinto affiliates have been McCain campaign contributors, and that Mr. Flake, before he made it to Congress, was a paid lobbyist for Rio Tinto Rössing Uranium” (a huge uranium mine in Namibia of which, according to The Huffington Post, Tehran owns a 15 percent stake). And, apparently, Rio Tinto “has been called out in the past for environmental devastation.” Taking local citizens’ lands and livelihood to personally benefit from a foreign-owned company with ties to Iran? Degrading the environment, which has unhealthy repercussions for us all?

I’m outraged, horrified, and ashamed. Who are these elected representatives representing?

One last word on words… Corrupt political-speak isn’t the only way in which falsehoods are propagated. In my work transforming how we approach aging, I often address the language we use to describe being and growing older (e.g.: past blog posts Language Matters, Deactivate Office Ageism, and Words are Power). It’s important that our actions match our words. Just as essential is knowing that what we say and how we say it matters.

I’m stymied about what to do to reverse the rider other than venting and spreading the word. Do you have any ideas on how we can make this happen?

We know it’s not all bad news…what examples of integrity (and situations in which carefully chosen words were followed by matching actions) have you recently witnessed or been a part of?

However, from the vibrating heart of our dissipating structures comes the promise of our true greatness: a greatness of awareness and action that will change the world. From the midst of the evolving Great Transition, we leave the Great Recession and the uplifting Obama era behind us as we enter an unknown, unchartered new cycle of populism and extreme radicalism ripping our valued democratic tenets to shreds and putting each of us on the line.  This Great Shift demands that we each unlock our potential for greatness which lives in each of us, and we are being called to make a difference. That is the premise of The Greatness Challenge, in which I offer a template for embracing and embodying our unique Signature Greatness DNA^SM to unleash our personal and collective greatness.

The Greatness Challenge is a manifesto for the growing wave of us who want to add value in all we do and who are being called to personal and collective evolution—from dentists to doctors, executives to engineers, artists to teachers and visionary leaders and futurists who are looking to redesign their lives so that every moment counts . . . for those of you who seek work that not only fills your bank accounts but your “values” bank as you yearn to do well doing good . . . for leaders who seek a pathway to visionary leadership, so the impact you have is of the greatest benefit for all.

To be one of the first to hear about The Greatness Challenge when it releases join us in the Secret Facebook Group here.

Let’s face it: If you are in your 50s, 60s, or 70s, lost your job or business and/or your home to foreclosure, the future looks bleak. If you are younger, it will be difficult, but doable because you have time on your side. For so many of us, the last decade has been personally and collectively challenging, calling forth all our strength, demanding we dip/g deep into our spiritual well and hone our emergency toolkits so that no matter what chaos touches us, we can return to center. It’s not easy. But mandatory. (I know. I’ve been there too.)

This past downturn was different than past recessions: Most of the jobs lost will not come back. Instead of the usual cyclical contraction of jobs, this time the change is structural, leaving us with permanent shrinkage or total loss of industries and markets. If we haven’t stayed ahead of the curve of change, we may find ourselves with outmoded skill sets, markets evaporating before our eyes and clients slipping through our grasp, at some point each of us wondering if we have what it takes to keep on keepin’ on.

In nature, wherever there is a vacuum, something new rushes in to fill the space. In the wake of volcanic destruction, new life flowers in hardened lava. The creative process takes over. It is in this sacred emptiness where creative inspiration ignites and new opportunities emerge. This is where we will transform the dross of leftover dreams into the gold of new promise and possibility.

Yes, it will be far tougher than you or any of us envisioned. But things change in a moment! Lest we forget, we are here one moment, then gone. Change isn’t stopping for any of us. In fact, it’s not slowing down one bit.

Every time I speak on reinvention and re-careering, I find that everyone is asking the same questions and having similar concerns about how to reinvent their careers or their business, their personal lives . . . and our world. We all want quick resolution. But transition is never without its thorny detours and dead-ends. Questions come first. Answers later.

There’s a mind-shift taking place. Our conversation is changing. Of course, we all want security and freedom no matter our age or economic status. But what I’m hearing more and more these days are that meaningful connections and a life that matters tops the list of “Must Haves” for everyone.

The underlying conversation doesn’t change whether I’m with a group of high-powered professionals, a mixed group of experienced career changers, serial entrepreneurs, or new retirees. It’s the same yearning for a 46-year-old world traveler just deciding to settle down —even if it means changing careers to do so—as it is for a 40-year-old new mom who opts out of the fast track so she can balance work and a new baby, or for a 60-something experienced empty-nester giving back after taking early retirement.

The good news is that the departing Great Recession has turned us upside down and inside out. What used to addictively drive us no longer does, or at least not in the same way. The upside of downsizing is that we are considering changing venues in record numbers. Many careerists long to make voluntary career moves but are staying put, while forced-out job seekers are starting all over. Fortunately, the economic recovery is soaring, breaking new stock market records, so new opportunities are emerging again.

With radical social and economic breakdowns and breakthroughs becoming the new norm, massive structural shifts are being put into motion. These epoch changes are forcing more and more of us to seek the profound knowledge and critical skill sets needed to move through change and to create sustainable success in our careers and personal futures.

Whenever we find ourselves in the “middle of the muddle,” just remember that these involuntary shakeups of what was is a signal that we’ve been given a time out. Just like our kids, we all need permission to disengage so we can regroup and get back in sync. It’s a perfect time to re-examine the life you’ve lived and the career path you are on. Take time to rediscover what your strengths and values are, as well as your value-added assets. (Do this about your business or workplace too.)

Before you attempt to gain an edge in the current crowded and highly competitive marketplace, it is mandatory that you take time out to redefine success. If you don’t what to measure, how will you know when you’ve “arrived”? This is the starting point for all creative reinvention and transformation.

To create a sustainable future that matters, begin by asking yourself the deeper questions and waiting for your visionary voice to emerge and messengers to arrive. Stay out of your head. Get back down into your body, where your Soul, your inner sacred feminine, resides. Trust your inner knowing to lead you to discover new success criteria so you can create a clear vision of the future you want.

While the future is unpredictable, by understanding the forces of change and embracing all the possible ways in which we can influence the future, we can ready ourselves to meet the future with confidence and Soulfulness.

How are you redefining success? What new vistas are showing up by redefining what success truly means to you now post the Great Recession?

Amazon #1 Best Seller Author of 11 books including The Ageless Way, Gray is the New Green, Visionaries Have Wrinkles, The Greatness Challenge and more.

If you think you’re too small to make a difference, you’ve never been in bed with a mosquito.

-Anita Roddick

We are not here merely to make a living. We are here to enrich the world.

-Woodrow Wilson

Whether you are extraordinary at something, or everything, I bet you strive to be the best in whatever you do. Or at least you want to believe that of yourself. (if you don’t, why not?)

You’re inspired by people who add value to life and work.

In fact, if all of us were to add value all the time, it would be nirvana on this plant.

Oh well. Not yet. I keep envisioning it and working towards it anyways.

It works both ways. If we want to receive value, then we must also add value.

When we do, you get far more returned than we ever dreamed possible. So what does this have to do with riding? More than we dreamed possible. So what does this have to do with riding a dead horse? It’s pretty simple really. If we get stuck riding dead horses, we cant possibly be contributing to the optimal value. And if we aren’t, then we can’t even get onto the Trail of Greatness.

The time is ripe for those who want take a went to leap in every aspect of their life. Go from Doing Great to Leading with Greatness.

Greatness is resident with each of us.  Each moment is the opportunity for greatness.

For all too many of us, we miss these moments because we are sound asleep with the TV running, the ping of the incoming emails…a new lullaby… and the cell phone on 24/7.

We all have to wake ourselves up now and again.

The surest way to do that is to ask yourself if you are always adding value.  Or are you riding a dead horse?

Most of us, me included, have had times in our lives where we found ourselves riding a dead horse or two. So, it’s critical for both outstanding performance and having a great life that we take a hard look at our current conditions- ask ourselves if we need to ride a new horse or just change saddles. And then we need to consciously renew our vows with our life and how we lead it.

Whatever task we choose offering perspective, renewed passion and commitment the outcome is significant improvement in results and quality on every level.  That translates into prosperity.

Where will you start in your journey from Great to Greatness?

Karen Sands, leading GeroFuturist, is the author of 11 books including recently released, “The Ageless Way: Illuminating the New Story of Our AGE”.