Or is it? Did the ancient Mayans really predict the end of time? I have a different theory. The Mayans created a calendar that was to last thousands of years. The Mayan priests must have spent untold hours creating this calendar. Once they were done, they probably had a big celebration.

The Mayan civilization just hummed along. It was the best of times. The next generations of priests probably knew they should work on another 5,000-year calendar, but they kept saying, “That’s a heck of a lot of work. Why bother? Let the next guy do it. I’m going to party. Everything is going great.”

And it did go great, for a while. But their civilization didn’t improve. Eventually it deteriorated, until finally the Spanish Conquistadors came along and easily gave the final push to their destruction.

Don’t make the same mistake. Don’t assume the next guy will take care of everything. Keep improving your business and looking forward, not backward.

If you don’t, the end will be near.