At first thought, I believe the future can be broken down into two large sections: the immediate future and longterm future. I think most people, myself included, don’t often give deep thought to the long-term future. This could be for a variety of reasons: (1) the human brain is wired to live for the now, (2) change happens very quickly so it’s hard to imagine or think of what the long-term future might be like, (3) thinking of change can be overwhelming and scary.
I personally don’t think there is much point in contemplating what the long-term future could possibly be like, but I do think there can be great meaning and benefit in contemplating what you WANT it to be like. Why? Because this desire can be reflected in your daily actions (short-term future thinking). This is similar to goal setting: If you have a large goal, you must break it down into smaller goals to make it less overwhelming and attainable.
Instead of hoping for change, as cheesy as this sounds, you need to BE the change. You literally need to be it. You want people to be kinder – be kinder. You want the world to feel more at peace – work at finding peace. You’re worried about climate change? Buy local. Whatever it is, you need to do it. It’s not an option if you want to see that change in the world.
We often underestimate the power of influence. But there are actually different levels of influence and each level bleeds into the next. The strongest level being control, the middle being influence, and the weakest being no control. You can imagine these all within the same circle. At the center is control. Outside of that is influence. And on the outermost ring and the things we have no control over. Let’s think about this circle starting from the center.
What are some things you CAN control (the innermost circle)?
Here is a short list to get your mind going:
How much effort you put into something
How many times you smile, say “thank you”, or show appreciation in a day
How well you prepare for something
How you react to an emotion
What you focus on
How you interpret a situation
What you commit to doing or not doing
What conversations you have and what you engage in
How much you focus on the present moment
What you tell yourself
How nice you are to YOU
How you take care of your body
How many new things you are exposed to
What you do in your free time
Whom you spend your time with and who your friends are
What information you consume: books you read, media you listen to or watch
When you ask for help
Whether you make plans and act on them
How much you believe what other people say
How long it takes you to try again when you fail
If you take all of that into consideration, wow, you actually have A LOT of control over the future.
Now we move on to influence (the circle outside control). At any moment in time, you are either influencing or being influenced. This means (1) that you need to be very careful with what you surround yourself by and expose yourself to and (2) you need to be aware of your actions so that you can be a positive influence on others. For example, if someone is rude to you at the grocery store, how does it make you feel? You’re probably upset and start having more of a dislike towards other humans. The next time you encounter one will you be cheery side or more on the rude side? I think you can see where I’m going with this. Now what if you left your house and you paid for the coffee of the stranger behind you in line at the coffee shop? What kind of chain reaction would you set off? How would this influence the lives of other people in a positive way? You can see from these illustrations that influence is quite powerful.
Once you cover everything within the sphere of control and influence, it really doesn’t leave much that is out of your control. If you think the future is out of your control, think again. You may not be able to control 100%, but if you don’t try and no one tries, how will it improve? Riddle me that.
Here are three tips for becoming the change you want to see. One, make a few small changes in your every day life that feel aligned with the future you want to create for yourself. Two, mediate on what things are currently influencing you and if you like the effect they have had on you. If not, make the needed adjustments. If you are in need of some more positive influences, bring those in to your life. This can be people, places, books, media, music, etc. Three, contemplate in what ways you are already influencing others in a positive way and how you can expand this influence.
To whomever read this far, thank you. Your time is valued and appreciated. I hope you were able to derive some benefit from it (whether that be by action or energy) and can spread this benefit to the world around you.
All the best to you,
Estelle Olson
