There are 3 ways to face the future:
- with apathy,
- with apprehension or
- with anticipation.
People who are no longer in touch with their emotions, face the future with apathy. Their past may include much frustration or disappointment. So they feel powerless. They lack motivation, feel drained and numb. They indulge in bad habits or addictions as ways to cope with life. They do everything they can to avoid taking responsibility of their own lives.
People who face the future with apprehension feel stressed and overwhelmed. The reason why is really simple:
Stressed people don’t have the future well designed.
In other words, they believe that others are entitled to decide their future. So they give up on their own power and leave their future up to someone else. They are no longer in the driver’s seat of their lives.
The best way to face the future is to face it with anticipation.
It means to look forward to what lies ahead with a sense of curiosity, excitement and eagerness. It involves being open to new opportunities and adventures that the future may bring.
The secret to facing the future with anticipation is a future well designed.
Here are the 2 most important ongoing activities for a future well designed:
1. Decide what you want.
This is, in fact, a pretty simple exercise. Take a little time to ask yourself:
- What do I want?
- What habits I’d like to get?
- What places I’d like to visit?
- What kind of skills do I want?
- What kind of income do I want?
Think of the answers for a while. Review the most important areas of your life. Then make a list of what you want for your future. Involve your family, your partner, your children, in deciding what is important. Make setting, evaluating and strengthening your goals a fundamental activity in your life.
2. Plan to use your present resources wisely.
In other words, create a clear picture of what you intend to do with your present resources. Each area of your life needs a game plan – a clear set of actions taken to achieve a specific goal.
Most certainly, you have resources. The very important question is: what are you doing with them?
- How do you divide your time?
- Where are you investing?
- What do you focus on?
You need a family game plan – so that you won’t miss some of the most important life moments.
You need a career game plan – a detailed plan for the use of your work time.
You need a financial independence game plan – if being free is what you want.
You need a relationships game plan – to be intentional of who you spend your time with.
You need a game plan for your personal time – to feed your passions and to keep investing in yourself.
Also, you need a game plan for knowledge gathering.
New knowledge is the bridge between your current resources and what you want in your life.
Very few people have a consistent plan for gathering knowledge. And having one is what makes the difference in the long run. Resolve to feed your curiosity, reflect on new knowledge and assess how it can benefit your life. Knowledge you collect only becomes powerful when you apply it.
I invite you to reflect on the answer to this question:
