Today, psychotherapists teach people to live «here and now», to live only in the present, and they ironically comment on the aspiration to the future: «If you want to make God laugh, tell me about your plans.» For their clients, this is the correct recommendation, but for healthy people it is not. A developed and healthy person lives in the future. Like this? To live in the future is to put your future at the center of your attention, to make your future your main value.
Our future is only always a possibility, so “living the future” can be both leaving the present, living in dreams, and creating a desired future so that it becomes real. The ability to live “here and now”, to be in the present every second is an excellent skill, but it is wrong to turn it into your life philosophy. It is important to sleep soundly and eat well, but advanced people do not live to eat and sleep. They are tools, not goals. Also, the ability to live “here and now” is only a tool that you need to use when necessary, moving towards your goals, consciously building your future.
How to live in the future?
If you live the future correctly, your attention will shuttle all the time: present-future-present-future. We look at what is happening in the present, compare it with our values and capabilities, and set goals based on this. The goal is the image of the future. Now we constantly keep our goals in mind and are constantly looking for how to achieve them faster and better, and for this we carefully monitor reality, changing circumstances, organize the necessary meetings, do what we should and teach ourselves what is necessary. Having decided on our life values, we define the main goals for life, then we define goals for ten years ahead, concretize them into goals for a year, three and five years, and turn annual goals into goals for a month, tasks for a week and affairs of the day.
With this approach, the past does not exist. At every moment of what is happening, we filter something as “empty” (and it is forgotten), and mark something as important, after which we put it in the right future. What can be important and where do we put this important? A great idea came to mind — they caught it, wrote it down where it could be quickly found. They did something stupid — they drew conclusions for the future and abandoned them in their imagination in a situation where it would be relevant to use these conclusions. We found a good solution — we similarly tried on where and when this good solution might come in handy in the future. This is the memory of the future.
To live in the future is to be constructive and act appropriately. Do not worry about what happened, but correct what has been done and form new plans. Implement the principle “No problems, there are tasks”. Not to figure out who was to blame, but to negotiate for the future and build satisfying relationships. Do not object to the inaccuracy made by the interlocutor, but simply correct it with a clarification or addition. If there were serious losses and all the main thoughts of the past life disappeared — to find new meanings and values, to build a new life. To live in the future is not to live “Because”, but “In order to”.
It is wrong to think that a person who lives in the future misses the beauty of what is happening today and momentary joys — not at all. In the image of your beautiful future, there should be beauty, and joy, and love, there should be close people and evening walks with them, when you hold hands and understand that this is happiness. And if suddenly here and now you can immediately donate one of these things that are dear to you, you will definitely do it. It is only important not to turn into a short-handed creature that satisfies its current needs and does not think about what will happen tomorrow. Those who live like a vegetable usually live at the expense of others or in fact betray their future. If you are thinking about your future, you are taking care of yourself — the one who will soon live in this future. Do something worthy today, so that the future you will say “Thank you!”