? Throughout the ages, people with lofty ideals have wanted to predict trends, grasp trends and exploit trends. However, countless studies and practices have shown that those so-called predictions are almost all nonsense when looking back after a few years. In other words, they are often inaccurate. The problem is not just that: if the predictions are all wrong, they are still useful, and we can learn a lot from looking back; being right sometimes is not only unhelpful, but may actually be harmful. Even so, the trend exists objectively. So, how do we treat trends well?
01 The general trend
? If you want to be kind to all things in the world, you must first understand them. To observe the general trend and use it, we must understand in advance what the trend is. To sum it up in one word, the trend is the general trend. In other words, if most people see similar problems and have similar ideas at almost the same time, this is a so-called trend. We can further understand it from three levels:
(1) In terms of numbers, it is the majority of people, not a minority, and not a very small number of people. Obviously, what some people see and think is not a trend.
(2) In terms of time, it is almost at the same time, and there is roughly no time span.
(3) In terms of content, it includes two aspects: seeing and realizing, that is, seeing similar problems and having similar ideas.
? 02? Unstoppable
After defining the problem, we will enter the process of analyzing the problem. When it comes to trends specifically, we need to understand their origins.
For a long time, we have believed that trends are the result of experts’ foresight. It turns out that so-called experts are not that much smarter than us, and they have no predictive power. Several major predictions in history have not confirmed the predictions of experts. On the contrary, some of them make the world laugh at them and only add to people's talk after dinner.
Common sense in philosophy tells us that the people are the backbone of history. As the so-called spring river water warms the duck prophet, many trends are often summarized from the bottom up. For example, the promotion of joint production contracting is the result of scientific decision-making by party and state leaders in compliance with public opinion. There are more examples in life, such as online shopping, square dancing, etc. Therefore, once a trend appears, it is naturally unstoppable.
03? It is inevitable to win
? Analyzing problems is to solve them. How can we make a difference in an overwhelming situation?
? (1) Understand the trends. Just like the general trend of history, things that have been separated for a long time must be reunited, and things that have been together for a long time must be divided. The trend of everything is a cyclical system. For example, shoes are nothing more than periodic transitions between pointed, rounded and blunt toes. For another example, entertainment is nothing more than following the development pattern of "offline-online-offline-online...".
? (2) Follow the trend. The trend of history is unstoppable. We can only follow nature and it is irreversible. Otherwise, it’s just a mantis standing in the way—overestimating one’s capabilities.
? (3) Be ready to go. When the trend has not yet arrived, we should accumulate strength, wait for the trend to come, and make great achievements when the trend comes.