What Will the Future be Like for You?

Consider your whole life – Think about work, rest and play; your physical, mental, psychological and spiritual being. If you only focus on one or two the other parts of your life can get out of kilter.

How do you want to be, to feel throughout the year? What do you want to do and achieve? What will it look, sound and feel like?

‘Choice is the crown of life. Not to choose, is not to be alive…Choose joy and follow after it.’  Brian Keenan

Be flexible – In order to achieve our dreams or goals we need to be open to different possibilities and flexible in our approach. Some people end up being vague about the outcome they are seeking and what success is going to be like, but rigid in their behaviour. In order to get results we need to be as flexible as possible and keep on taking action until we achieve results.

Be creative – If you feel stuck about how to move your life forward, how to rise to a challenge or sort out a problem, consider creative ways – using the exercise in this edition can help you get new perspectives on challenges you face. Think about looking at things from another person’s perspective – a trusted friend, colleague, mentor (virtual or real).

Have fun – If we approach things from our ‘fun’ child, seeing change as exciting, as opportunities for new things to come into our lives, life becomes easier and lighter. Also our creatively comes from engaging our ‘fun’ child. So if you are not experiencing much fun or lightness at the moment what can you do? What is it that will bring you joy and satisfaction? Doing things that make you laugh, relax and be creative.

On Saturday I woke up and decided I wanted (even needed) to be by the sea. My logical self said that is ridiculous thing to do in a day (I live in the middle of the country), but my fun child wanted to go, so off I went. Yes it took hours of driving and getting stuck in traffic, but I discovered by chance somewhere new including a castle. The expanse of sea, sky and views was wonderful and watching the sunset out at sea. I came back refreshed, energised and ready to get stuck in with all the things I needed to do.

What can you do that will bring more fun, lightness and creativity into your life?

‘You can do anything if you have enthusiasm.’  Henry Ford

Walking into the future – There is a wonderful exercise that I use myself and with coaching clients which involves walking into the future. Here are a few examples of how I and my clients have used this process:

• A friend who was about to go off and do VSO explored the future in terms of two possible locations that she might end up in

• A client walked into two different futures to explore two different career possibilities

• A client who was getting married in the same week as she was moving house, stepped into the future to work out how she could remain sane and make sure everything happened when it needed to

• I used it to work out how multiple projects that I was working on could be managed in a healthy and positive way.

Here are the steps to follow to walk into your future

Step 1 You need to have a private space to do this, and you need space to walk along an imaginary time line – so you might need to clear some space.

Step 2 You then need to imagine a line that goes from now into the future and decide which direction it is going in and step on the line in the present moment.

Step 3 Stand in the present and look at the future. Check in with yourself: how do you feel and what are you thinking in the present moment?

Step 4 Think about how far you want to walk into the future: a week, 6 months, a year, ten years, 30 years – whatever is appropriate for what you are exploring. Then walk along the time line until you feel that you have got to that time in the future. Once you are there turn around and face where you have come from.

Step 5 Standing in the future think about where you have got to, what you have achieved, how it feels, looks and sounds to be there in the future.

Step 6 Then look back over your time line and the period of time it took to get here and think about:

• The key steps or milestones on your journey

• Any obstacles encountered and how you overcame them

• What supports and advisors you had along the way

• What key lessons you have learned along the way

Step 7 Now look at yourself back along the time line where you started. Think about what words of wisdom you want to give yourself to help you on your journey. Say these out loud to the YOU who is back along the time line in the present time

Step 8 Now walk back to the current time, stand in the present time and take on board the words of wisdom from yourself in the future. Breathe deeply and take them on board. Look up and visualise yourself living these words of wisdom and see, hear and feel how great it is to be living these wonderful words of wisdom. Now think about where you want to go, what are your first steps and what you need to support you on your journey

‘An image of a future worth living will provoke those actions that help create the fact.’  William James

Want more Inspiration? If you want any support in making change easy or walking into the future, we can offer 1:1 support, consultancy advice and group workshops to assist you in doing this. Just call 01865 377334 or email mg@grovelands.org.uk to arrange a time to speak in confidence. For more information about Grovelands visit our website at www.grovelands.org.uk.

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