As one year slips into the next, this year, like most, I find myself thinking about the future. Perhaps it’s the renewed confidence I feel, with December behind us, that spring is indeed inevitable. It could also be that I’m simply participating in the cultural ritual of re-setting that takes place for a couple weeks every January.
But it’s more than that this year. You see, in July, I wrote a story. It was an inspirational story about what my life will look like at 6 a.m. on December 31, 2025. More specifically, it was a story about where I’ll be, who I will be, who I’ll be with, what we’re doing, and some of what will have happened between July 2020 and December 2025. In this story, I talk about my physical location and surroundings, the emotions I’ll be experiencing, and how my work has emerged and impacted others and the world at large. I wrote about how the people around me may be experiencing life and the emotions they might be feeling. And, at the end of the story, I offer a teaser for the next chapter which has yet to be written.
There are plenty of other details in this story as well, but you get the point. My story paints a picture. It’s a personal, vivid, detailed, and inspiring image of my life on a day five years from now. It’s my preferred future. It’s not set in stone or guaranteed to come to pass. It is simply a story after all.
And yet, as each day, week, month and yes, year slips into the next, this picture story moves ever closer to the very center of that place in the brain where our true commitments lie. That place where it’s as if it’s already done. And I find myself drawn to do the work, connect with the people, and create the practices and disciplines in my life that support this story and pull me toward my preferred future.
My invitation to you is to give yourself a gift of time. Quiet time. Alone. Consider then, the distinction between your default future and your preferred future. Then begin. Begin to write your story of your preferred future and notice what begins to happen in your life.
This post was written by Keith Witmer, coach and founder of MapLife. For additional tools, assistance, or questions about writing your story of your preferred future, connect with Keith at keith@voyagercoachconsult.com