Be Your Future Self Now: The Science of Intentional Transformation

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The End of History Illusion is the name given to the tendency of human beings to believe that all the changes that are going to happen have already happened. I'm often guilty of this as well when I read history books and forget that someone else will write a history book about the time period I'm living in now. Emotional health happens when you contain both a positive past and an exciting future. Having a positive past depends very little on what events actually occurred. What happened to you doesn't matter as much as what story you decide to tell yourself about what happened. What happened to you doesn't matter as much as what emotions you feel about what happened. Your past is fundamentally a meaning. The story you create about past events dictates what your past means to your present and to your Future Self. We get to choose what story we attach." Every little action you take toward your Future Self enhances your level of commitment and knowing. Every little action toward your Future Self is the evidence of your faith. Every little action toward your Future Self is you more fully being your Future Self now." THREAT #4: Being Disconnected from Your Future Self Leads to Myopic Decision “The more conscious you become of how everything you do right now impacts the person you are in the future, the better and more thoughtful your actions will be." Much better to say, "I used to smoke, but I quit." Now your identity is a "former smoker" who doesn't smoke anymore. Big difference.

Psychologists call this the end-of-history illusion, It’s the belief that you’ve substantially changed in the past, but likely won’t change much in the future. It is common to assume that your Future Self will mostly be the same person as you are today. Being driven by fear is a lower state of consciousness than being driven by courage and vision. Deep emotional development is required to transition beyond fear as your driver to levels of acceptance, courage, and love as reasons for action." Threat #5 was a warning about not having a larger vision for your life, and this Truth reflects the idea that without that vision, without measurable metrics for success, and without clear mile markers along the way, your progress will be slower than it could be. External factors are absolutely not what determines if a person is successful or not. Only that a person lives in alignment with their own aims.Science suggested that human beings are the direct byproduct of their own past. This view is known as determinism-the idea that human behaviour is simply one domino toppled by the dominos that came before. The dominos of past events dictate who you are and what you’re doing now. There is no human agency or freedom-simply stimulus and response. If we do not create and control our environment, our environment creates and controls us." -Dr. Marshall Goldsmith The more you invest, the more committed you'll be. The more you invest, the bigger your vision will be. Invest your time, your money, and your talents. Investing is how you shatter the glass ceiling of your current potential and elevate your sense of what you can be and do. This profound behavior signals to your subconscious that you can have and be much more than your current identity." We can’t know without knowing a person's aims. What if Richard Branson set out to live a quiet life, but like a compulsive gambler, he just can't stop creating companies? Then that changes everything, and we can't call him successful anymore." -Derek Sivers Most people, out of fear, limit their view of the future to a narrow range. Thoughts of tomorrow, a few weeks ahead, perhaps a vague plan for the months to come. We are generally dealing with so many immediate battles that it is hard for us to lift our gaze above the moment. It is a law of power, however, that the further and deeper we contemplate the future, the greater our capacity to shape it to our desires." -Robert Greene and 50 Cent, The 50th Law

In an episode of Tom’s recent ESPN documentary, Man in the Arena, Tom talked about how the doubters and skeptics throughout his career aren’t actually in the arena. Nothing they say or do has any impact on what occurs on the field. Becoming successful in whatever arena you choose requires a great deal of clarity, focus, and a longer-term commitment to your Future Self. By continually investing and deliberately practicing toward your Future Self, you can become highly successful. You can create dreams far beyond your initial conception. STEP #6: Schedule Your Future Self "Your time is the clearest indicator of your commitment. You can’t hide how you spend your time. To improve freedom of money, relationships, and purpose, own your freedom of Time. To have freedom of time, take ownership of your schedule. Prioritize what matters most, and eliminate what does not. The more you take ownership of your time and attention, the simpler and easier to realize your Future Self. If, however, your time is continually overrun with lesser goals and other people's agendas, then your desired Future Self will be frustrated."The more you take ownership of your time and attention, the simpler and easier to realise your Future Self. If, however, your time is continually overrun with lesser goals and other people’s agendas, then your desired Future Self will be frustrated.

Each person should be fully respected in what they choose to believe about God, about life, and about themselves. We are all extremely ignorant and limited in our current perspectives, and our Future Selves will see things from a more elevated state." What you believe about the present impacts what you believe about your own past. You can choose either to see your past as something that happened to you, or as something that happened for you; for you as in, fuel for your continued development. The second viewpoint is the most empowering, and it's not even close.

An investment toward your Future Self is any conscious action you’re making toward chosen goals. Every time you consciously invest in something specific, whether learning, health, relationships, or experiences, your Future Self grows more capable, free, and mature. Your schedule reflects your priorities. Your schedule reflects what you're actually committed to. Most schedules are dominated by urgent battles and lesser goals such as meetings and Zoom calls. Rarely does someone's schedule reflect and prioritize their Future Self over their current self." Why don’t successful people and organisations automatically become very successful? One important explanation is due to what I call “the clarity paradox,” which can be summed up in four predictable phases: Finally, you set massive (think: huge!) 12-month targets based on your three priorities. Your contextual purpose is to do as well as you can nailing down those three things. Yes, lift your gaze above your current situation to see the bigger picture, but then look down again and dig in.