I’d like to share a few of my favorite words with you—words that have inspired me for over 20 years. I think they will help to improve the quality of your life in 2015. Read them slowly and carefully; then you might want to read them again.
The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place
that is created,
first in mind,
next in will, then in activity.
The future is not some place we are going to, but a place we are creating.
The paths are not to be discovered, but made, and the activity of making the future changes both
the maker and the destination.
This profound sentiment was written by John Schaar, who had been a political theorist at the University of California.
How to best deal with the future
What John Schaar is talking about in the first sentence is not what is, but what could be. For most people, the future actually is the result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present. But it doesn’t have to be.
You have a fundamental choice:
You can have your future determined by forces outside your control, by accident, and by passively watching it creep up on you.
Or, you can create it, first in your mind (what do you want it to be?), then by will (are you committed to do whatever it takes to make it real?), and finally by actually doing whatever you have to do.
In other words, you can have your future be a place that just happens to show up without warning one day, or it can be a place you consciously create.
If you stumble into the future by accident, you will probably experience being at the effect of unforeseen circumstances. If you consciously create it, you will change yourself (you will experience yourself as the creator of your life instead of as a victim of the circumstances) and you will reach the destination of your choice (instead of a destination that is thrust upon you by circumstances outside your control).
In other words, the best way to deal effectively with the future is to create it, instead of waiting until it happens to you.
The choice is yours
That’s it. It’s as simple as that. What do you want your 2015 to be? This is the most important decision you will make during the next week. What will it be?
Please let me know if you decide to create it or if you will wait till this time next year to see how 2015 turned out.
Thanks for reading my blog. Please post your questions or comments on the value of creating your future. Disagreement is as welcome as agreement. Your comments add value for thousands of readers. I love to read them all and I will respond to as many as I can.
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Copyright © 2014 Morty Lefkoe
Great insight on a beaten down topic in the self development world. Very true, the will to do it is what matters the most, because everyone envisions in their mind who they “want to be” in real life, but never seem to do it.
“People do it every day, they tall to themselves… they see themselves as they’d like to be, they don’t have the courage you have, to just run with it” -Tyler Durden (Fight Club)
It can be very challenging to be in a creative mode when life IS actually happening to you. You say to not be passive and let that happen, but sh it CAN happen when you are making other plans. Life changing accidents and chronic and mental illness can happen to any one or their family members at any time. Developing coping strategies becomes more imperative than creating strategies, at least for how ever long that takes. In these situation one is also forced to examine what they thought they wanted and what is actually important. Hopes of achieving of dreams may be dashed but the gaining understanding of ones limitations and mortality and developing forgiveness of self and others may far out way anything else one does in the worldly sense. So what should our focus be on anyway?
Hi Sue Sita,
I can hear your frustration and that after a fair bit of struggle to achieve your dreams which had not fulfilled you, you have chosen to reflect on what you`ve done so far instead of trying to push further and stay frustrated. And you are now looking for a way to decide what to focus on in order to know with certainty what`s truly important and what would cause fulfillment in your life. I was in the same shoes and it took me ages and superhuman commitment to succeeding in order not to even commit suicide at some point. So I can truly hear your pain and would love to suggest to you a shortcut in this maze we call Life.
I`d like to propose to you that there maybe a very useful syntax for you to think of when you are thinking of what to focus on in order to be fulfilled. Since none of us were taught this at school or at home most people don`t realize that the key to their fulfillment is to consistently focus on applying strategies they consciously developed in order to meet all of their human needs. I`d suggest you read the previous sentence out loud a few times as this is what I truly believe is the answer. While tackling your limiting beliefs can help immensely, and you do well to visit Morty`s wonderful site regularly, the way to have absolute control over your happiness in any given moment is to realize what needs you need to meet right now and applying the strategies you`ve developed to do that. I like to use Tony Robbins` 6 human needs psychology model because it`s the most effective and yet simple model of human needs I`ve ever come across. What I`m sharing here is all inspired by his brilliant work at some level. As you may have guessed you only need to find ways to meet just 6 needs in total that makes your job very easy. It`s still a long learning process that requires absolute commitment. Ideally you`d want to find strategies that meet all of your needs at once, but finding ways to meet them one by one consistently is a good way to start. What I`ve found to be an amazing starting strategy to meet your needs for love and significance – to be valued and needed -, is to write down on a piece of paper what you`ve achieved so far that you are proud of. Don`t stop writing until you have at least 50 things there! After you`ve finished this, what I call a “Self-appreciation List” you`ll start keeping a diary in which you write down every single day what you are grateful for, things that you`ve done to improve the quality of your own life or of others. You`ll write down how much you appreciate all the hard work you`ve done for yourself, even if it was just to cook yourself something or actually leaving the house in cases of severe social anxiety for example. Whatever tiny thing you can find you`ll write down words of gratitude and appreciation towards yourself as well as how much you choose to love yourself unconditionally. And really mean these, feel them to be so. Write down 5 items every day consistently. Do it with consistence and you`ll begin to trust yourself and meet your need for certainty too; certainty that you can take care of yourself whatever is happening in your environment. Then eventually you`ll begin to have more and more energy, enough to start to really grow and contribute to something greater than yourself and that will leave you truly fulfilled. If you`re just starting out in the world of needs I`d recommend that you read the book Nonviolent Communication by Marshal B. Rosenberg which is going to give you a very strong base to build on.
I wish you all the fulfillment and the clarity on what`s important in your life so that you can make the right decisions all the time with confidence! And please, go and read that book now! You`ll be happy you did!
This seems like a standardized response… My husband is dying from a horrid cancer. My mom’s life is waning. I am just trying to get rest, exercise and eat well enough to not collapse from heart failure.
But some of this might help, even if it’s not specific to caregiver selflessness and stress.
I choose Creation.
Great blog with perfect timing. Thank you!
Twenty eight years ago around the holidays after working a security job which demanded that I have minimal contact with my family over the holidays I decided to take control of my life. I went back to school that year and my life has been progress with just a few blips which I took control of and learned from. Now I am a licensed counselor, life coach, happily married and the author of three books. I live at the Jersey seashore where I always wanted to be. It is great what can happen when you take control. In 2015 I am taking control to have a membership website and a bestseller.
Hi Morty,
I hope you’re doing well. I loved this and plan to create my 2015 and teach my kids to create theirs also. I know where I’m going I just need to show up now. I have learned so much from you and done a lot of self work on myself. Thank you for being you for sharing all your great wisdom! Have a very happy holiday!