Most everyone knows about the five-second rule. This unwritten rule says that when you’re cooking or preparing a piece of food and it falls to the ground and it stays no longer than five seconds, it’s okay to serve or eat it. Six or seven seconds–throw it away, but five seconds or under, it’s all right. It’s more of a funny or joke type rule than a serious one and people have different variations to it.

So how in the world can this rule have any thing do with safety? A lot. One of the biggest mistake people have with their personal safety and security is not taking the time to be aware of their surroundings. It’s not that they don’t know they should be aware of what may be going on around them, but the problem is in how to really slow down a bit and take the time to be aware.

As an example, when we are getting out of our cars whether at a mall, doctors office or grocery store we pretty much blindly pull in, park, and start walking to the door without being aware of what dangers may be out there. We’re thinking about our kids, husbands, wives, daily problems, the lack of hours in a day to finish everything we’ve got to get done, or a dozen other things which may be going on in our lives. It’s not that we don’t know it’s prudent to look around a bit to make sure we’re not walking into a problem. It’s just that we’re engulfed in other things–and this is dangerous–especially for women.

This is where the five-second rule comes in to play. Remind yourself that if you want to make sure you’ll get home and see your loved ones again, if you want to live another day, if you want to achieve your God given potential, that from this day forward you will take five seconds for safety. It means that every time you are getting ready to get out of your car in a public area you’re going to look to the left, right, behind and in front of you, looking for anything concerning or suspicious. This also goes for when you’re getting ready to leave an area to go to your parked car. This five-second rule slows you down just long enough to access what’s around you. It can save your life.

Years ago, I listened to an interview of a murderer who said if the woman he killed at an ATM would “have just been more aware of her surrounding she would have been alive today”.

We know it’s good to be aware of our surroundings, but to remember to do it is another thing for most people. Well, from this day forward, remember that silly old rule that’s universally known in America. The one that makes us smile when we think about it, and revise it to The Five-Second Rule for Safety. Then commit to the fact that from this day on you’re going to remember it and utilize it for your safety and security. This reminder and commitment will quickly become second nature and after a while you’ll just automatically do it–and it will also make you much more likely to live and love, yet another day.

The “Big Picture”

To forecast future trends effectively, and with precision, you must step back to see the “big picture” of how current and upcoming trends might evolve over various time intervals, and then assess their trajectory, speed, and interaction.

Essentially, you compile a “jigsaw puzzle” of what the future will be like. You never have all the pieces, and they constantly change in shape, size, and color, thus reflecting the world in a state of flux. By looking for trend patterns, you can anticipate their magnitude – and thus “see” or envision their outcome with a high degree of accuracy. It is akin to very long-range weather forecasting, using satellite imagery to track the biggest trends.

Future trends emerge in two major, matrix-like dimensions:

*”6-WAVE”: 6 layered waves of future trends, each wave overlapped by the next, as society develops and modernizes; and

*”4-STEP”: 58-year mega-cycle of social, technical, economic, and political trends.

The resulting mega-cycling waves of future trends bring a “6-WAVE + 4-STEP” kaleidoscope of change – a giant multi-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. You then plot this satellite “map” of anticipated future trends across a 20-Year Timetable of 5-year intervals. It serves as a guide to decision-making and action – by individuals, societies, professions, organizations, industries, and governments.

“6-WAVE” Layers

In his book The Third Wave, futurist Alvin Toffler referred to the Agricultural Era and the Industrial Age as 1st-Wave Society and 2nd-Wave Society respectively. Third Wave Society is the post-Industrial period already well underway since about 1950 in the West.

Under-developed countries are stuck in a rut; bogged down as 1st-Wave agrarian societies, with people still living hand to mouth, working on a labor-intensive basis, just as people in Western countries did in their Agricultural Age. By contrast, rapidly-developing countries, such as China, are seeing a continual shift into the industrial and service sectors.

All economies modernize across this “1st-2nd-3rd Wave” path of development. Western nations have already moved beyond the 3rd-Wave, which is now so large that it employs about 85% of the North American work force. Indeed, Toffler’s “Third Wave” must now itself be divided into four distinct waves, giving us 6 waves or economic layers in total:

1st Wave: Agriculture (and natural resources)

2nd Wave: Industry (manufacturing, transport)

3rd Wave: Services (financial, health, personal)

4th Wave: Information (knowledge, high-tech, bio-tech)

5th Wave: Leisure (entertainment, travel, tourism)
6th Wave: Outer Space.

These 6 waves exist simultaneously, though at any one time one wave predominates. The new waves pile on top of the old ones, building the economy higher. The old waves rarely disappear; the new waves complement them. For example, 2nd-wave machines also modernize 1st-wave agriculture. The 4th-Wave is not just spawning the digital economy; it is modernizing every sector – farm, factory, office, hospital, hotel, airline. The 4th-Wave is now the main employer in the West.

National fortunes vary, depending on the urge to change, the degree of innovation, and the political climate. In the future, the leading nations will be those with strong 4th- and 5th-Wave sectors. Indeed, countries such as China and India already have ambitious 6th-Wave space programs.

“4-STEP” Mega-Cycle

These 6 massive waves interact in a “4-STEP” long-wave cycle, about 58 years long. “4-STEP” stands for a Social, Technical, Economic, and Political sequence of change. The current long wave started around 1990. Within it are six 9.5-year midi-cycles, which is why the economy currently is slowing in 2008-9. The next 9.5-year cycle will peak in 2018-9, and so on, until the full long-wave culminates in a major slowdown around 2048.

STEP 1 – Social Motivation

Change is driven by human forces. As we progress through the “hierarchy of needs,” we generate new ideas to sustain our progress. We apply these ideas to techno-innovation. Today, as the 4th Wave spreads globally, innovations spread like lightning, again changing needs and aspirations. Any society that fails to innovate will stay stuck in the old wave, often missing several long wave cycles.

STEP 2 – Techno-Innovation

New ideas spur research, pushing back the frontiers of science, and spawning still more future trends in technology. The more efficient and productive the new technology, the greater its economic and social benefit. The greatest techno-change in world history is the Internet Revolution, or what I call the Webolution, which is a huge wealth-creation phenomenon.

STEP 3 – Eco-Modernization

The third step, therefore, is the effective management of technology to restructure and modernize the economy – to orchestrate the production of worldwide wealth. The Webolution is creating massive productivity gains, which always lead to real increases in wealth.

STEP 4 – Political Reform

Finally, to ensure that people benefit from this new wave of modernization, the entire 4-STEP cycle must be elevated to a higher level, so that people are incentivized to start the process all over again. To allow this, political systems inevitably will reform – preferably by consensus, but by upheaval if necessary. Otherwise, corrupt regimes and despots garner all the gains. Bureaucracy and entrenched power bases arise. Thus disenfranchised and disenchanted, people lose all incentive to innovate. Eventually, however, trends will overwhelm the system’s resistance to change. It will reform or be overthrown.

In sum, the world is in constant transition, climbing 6 waves of modernization and crossing the 4-STEP cycle of change. This occurs in varying degrees and speeds, over different timeframes.

The task of the futurist is to identify, track, and forecast the next future, identifying threats and opportunities. Anyone who can “see” and “map” their future in this way, and takes the necessary steps to change, will grow and succeed in every way. Those who fail to “see” their future will simply end up in the wrong place.

The Law of Sowing and Reaping is the universal law with many names. Every culture and civilization have their own way of defining or describing this law. Sowing and reaping cut across the board and colors every discipline and activity under heaven. It is universal law because it removes the illusion separateness and connects everything in the spiritual and material universe. The law of sowing and reaping affects Spirituality, Mental Dynamics, Health, Economics, Agriculture, Relationships, philosophy and Science.

The word ‘universe’ means one song. The definition of the universe implies that existing things should be regarded as collective entity. This may also explain my version of the law of relativity; that everything is connected directly or indirectly through energy (law of magnets). Yes, that everything is relative: the spiritual is relative to the mental and the physical world. “The more I study physics, the more I am drawn to metaphysics,” says Albert Einstein.

The law of sowing and reaping is also God’s system of operation. On the other hand, the world system is based on buying and selling. God governs the universe through laws laws He set up before humans appeared on the horizon. It is not enough to know Jesus; you must understand the way He operates his kingdom. This is important because every law of macrocosm (larger universe) also operate within humans (microcosm or universe within the heart).

“The law of sowing and reaping is a kingdom law which, subsequently governs the earth and all natural or material matter,” says Kenneth Copeland.

The law of sowing and reaping has many descriptive names. Here are some of them:

Brian Tracy describes this strategic law as the ‘iron law of human destiny.’

Stephen Covey in his book ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ describes this law as the ‘law of the farm.’

Physicists version of this law is called ‘action and reaction’ described in Newton’s law of motion.

Eastern Religions calls it the law of Karma or retributive justice. Or, more commonly the law of cause and effect.

In the Bible, the Lord describes it as the Golden Rule: “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” Jesus says that upon this law hangs every other Law and the Prophets. In other words, the Golden Rule is the law of sowing and reaping applied to relationships. In short, it is the mother of all laws and ties everything together.

This law is so important in God’s economy that after telling the multitude the parable of the sower, Jesus disciples asked him the meaning of the parable. Jesus was shocked and asked, “how can you know other parables if you can’t understand the parable of the sower?”

Except the law of love, every natural law of universe hangs on this law including attraction, relationships, correspondence, substitution, relativity, returns, and energetics. Ultimately, these laws determine abundance or lack in the material universe.