Monday, November 7, 2022

You must envision your future to plan for it effectively. Is this true?

Quick tangent: Writing in 2022 presents the unique challenge of trying to create original material. The millions of people writing millions of ideas on millions platforms can make it difficult to put a fresh spin on things that really do bring value to readers. That’s all I want to offer in this newsletter and on my website. I want to offer you value with some originality. The opener I just wrote up top did not pop up anywhere in my googling, or in my other in-depth research. It is borderline common sense, a paraphrased rendition with a similar message most likely exists, but from my knowledge it is original and I think it is valuable, true or not. It makes you think. That is valuable. Here it is again: You must envision your future to plan for it effectively. Do you think this is true? If so, what’s next?

Effective futuristic planning starts with futuristic thinking. Thinking is imperfect and most often ineffective. There are dead ends, constantly, and it’s a good thing. Think of your thinking, or brainstorming, as a rough draft. Putting thought into action will always require a spectrum, or range of considerations. It takes time, confusion, and error to refine your actions from the thoughts you think. You must organize and consider possible outcomes and the necessary steps for starting. What’s next? is very difficult to answer. What is the value of this question for you? It can range from What’s next for dinner? to What’s next in life?

I always start by getting the “it depends” out of the way. The significance often changes, but eliminating the stalemate of dependent scenarios is a great starting point for people like me, who tend to overthink or over execute. What do you want to be? What’s next? If it depends, get it out of the way.

How much money do I want to make? Well, it depends on the number of hours I have to spend working. Try working 30 hours per week and then 80. Is there a job that pays you more for working 30 hours than working 80? It depends.

How healthy can I be? It depends on the diet and exercise I can commit to consistently. Were you raised with healthy habits in mind? It depends.

How often do I want to go on vacation? It depends on how much money I make from the hours I work or the type of job I have and whether or not I am healthy enough from diet and/or exercise to travel. It depends.

It depends will always get stronger as your layers get deeper and greater in number. Your actions do contribute to your results, but your luck and family history also determine things like wealth and health. Some scenarios are out of your control. In three short questions, I discussed career, health, and fun as if they are available to everyone. But it depends. Some people take the job they can get, others can’t work. Some eat healthy and exercise daily but have illness and disease in their family history; they can’t stay healthy. Finally, I just got back from vacation with my wife, Taylor, and son, Beckett while some of my friends have never been on a plane before. Your circumstances depend, but perspective does not. What’s next might not be up to you. Be understanding of your circumstances and recognize that you may never understand the circumstances of others. It will always depend.

I get it. Everything depends on something else. Philosophically, anything can connect with anything else. If you use terms or scenarios that are broad enough, you will find some form of it depends.

But now that it depends is out of your way, what’s next?

Important questions can typically be answered by asking more important ones. If What’s next? is important…

What’s right now?

Work hard to find your answer. You are the only one who can.