In our minds we can make the past and/or future seem real. We hang on to old beliefs and stories about us and others that are no longer, or perhaps were never true. You see, the human mind has this unique ability to be able to convince itself about pretty much anything, which can make illusions seem real. In fact, we are doing this everyday. Handy when we try to rationalize events, but for the most part is just used to mask who we really are or what's really going on here.
But today's topic is the future. Why do I want to talk about the future when I just said the Now is all there ever is? Because soon all these succession of Now's become our future. So we need to plan for the future if we want to change, grow and live an incredible Now moment in the future. I'm a firm believer in having long term plans. Not all of those plans will work out, but it gives us direction. Pretend you are standing on a beach and you are looking out over the water and you see the horizon. That's the place where the sky seems to touch the water. You notice a speed boat on the shore so you jump in and race towards the horizon. But no matter how far or fast you go you can never get there. Think of the horizon as your long term, perhaps 25 year future. You can't get there yet because you need to go through everything else first, but it sure is nice to see it and then plan on how you will arrive. It's important because that's where we will spend the rest of our lives. So now you must plan. That's where your Future Focus comes in.
Your Future Focus is the ability to see things as we would like them to be - not as they are. To clarify our Future Focus we must break down our over whelming long-term goals onto simple, achievable short-term objectives. 1,3 maybe 5 year objectives. Here's an example of what I do. There are 7 areas of my life that I break things down into:
1. Health, physical, energy
2. Professional fulfillment
3. Money , finances
4. Relationships with family, friends
5. Intimate relationship
6. Emotional, spiritual
7. Recreation, fun , free time
Now I look at each area of my life independently and write down what I would like to see in each area for the next year. For example, in area #1 I might write, "I am health conscious. I eat only nutritious foods, work out 3 times per week and go to bed at a decent time to ensure I get the rest I need. " And so it starts. Go through all 7 areas of your life and write down what you would like to do to become the person you need to be if you are to reach your goals. Don't be afraid to be specific.
Planning like this will help you focus on what you need to do to accomplish your short term goals, which of course will help you meet those long term goals. When our thoughts surround the circumstances of our life which we dislike, we will not feel empowered, but dis-empowered. When we focus our thoughts on what we intend to create, this empowers us, motivates us and moves us in the direction of our dreams.
This topic, and many more, will be part of a video series I will be releasing in the new year to really help you make the changes you want in order to live the life of your dreams.
Please feel free to leave your comments below. Take what resonates and leave the rest.
Remember, "You're the one!"