The Value Of Trends

Written by a human, for humans, always.

I'm going to be honest with you.

I'm struggling today.

Why?

I'm exhausted.

I did not get enough sleep last night at all.

Busy.

If you follow my work...

You know that I look at things from a psychophysiological approach.

Sleep...

Is really important to success.

It improves brain function...

Reduces neurotoxins...

Is necessary for memory...

Plays a huge role in our weight...

Regulates our emotions...

Plus more.

Sleep is a vital aspect of success...

And I definitely did not get nearly enough last night.

Now...

There are two ways I could look at this.

I could beat myself up for doing poorly...

Which would be unwise because that would likely set me up for another bad night of sleep...

Or...

I could look at my overall sleep trends.

Overall...

My sleep is great.

Last night was terrible...

It is definitely impacting me today...

But the trend of my sleep is great.

What this means...

Is that I had one bad night...

And as long as I work to keep a steady trend...

I will be alright.

Today may have been off...

But my general trends reveal that I have successful sleep.

When most people are evaluating how things are going in their lives...

They often become focused on singular values...

Instead of looking at overall trends.

They look at revenue and see that things are positive...

But fail to see that revenue is decreasing from month to month...

Until it suddenly drops.

They see a marketing strategy is not getting the numbers they would like...

But fail to see that the trends are actually showing a positive trend...

And ultimately give up the strategy right before the payoff would be attained.

They are working out hard...

But ignore the lingering mild pain...

Until their body crashes in something catastrophic that makes them physically unable to perform.

Most people are not paying attention to the trends...

And it comes to harm them.

Worse...

Is that they fail to see how different trends interact with each other.

The CFO looking at sales increasing and thinking that all is well...

While failing to pay attention to how the Accounts Receivable is trending upward at a faster pace than the sales...

Meaning more sales are being made, but less money is being received.

Teams working more hours...

But getting fewer overall results...

Likely indicating either a broken system, burnout, or both.

Doctors looking at blood results that indicate they are within normal standards...

But failing to see the downward trends of multiple markers...

Indicating that a major health crisis is imminent...

Which trends could point to dysregulation in a specific system.

So often...

People only look at one point of reference in isolation...

And think that it tells the whole story...

But fail to see the truth that is hidden in plain sight...

If only one were to look at the overall trends.

No one, nor any business, is going to always be doing great all the time.

Life has problems...

Things rise and fall in different ways...

There are good seasons and bad seasons.

But...

If we are unaware of the trends...

We cannot accurately see these trends occurring.

A leader could believe they are failing when they are actually just experiencing a seasonal trend...

Meaning they would need to compare similar seasons instead of comparing up seasons to down seasons.

Many people believe they are failing in places where they do not see the trends moving in a positive direction...

And many more people believe they are doing excellent while completely missing the trends that will cause their ultimate demise.

Trends are vastly more valuable than individual points.

Last night I had terrible sleep.

It is not the first time.

It is not the last time.

But I am also aware that my overall trends...

Even with the occasional drop like last night...

Are exactly where I want them to be.

Do not judge without understanding what trends are at play...

As well as how they interact with each other.

Understanding the larger and interconnected trends is often the difference between true but subtle success...

And an unforeseen catastrophic failure that should have been caught.

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