What’s In Your Future?

The future we see is colored by our personal theory of how the future is shaped. There are several popular future theories.

One theory of the future is the Garden Hose Theory. Picture yourself with your eye to the end of a hosepipe and someone “out there” has turned on the tap. It’s just a matter of time before the water arrives. With this theory, the future is predetermined.

One of my clients in the mid-west lived according to this theory. Consequently, he kept his “nose to the grindstone”. It never mattered what he did because everything was done to him . The future was predetermined.

A second classic future theory is the Snowshoe Theory. You know snowshoes, those big cumbersome tennis rackets that you wear in the snow to stop you from sinking but which …leave an unmistakable track. With the Snowshoe Theory you can say with confidence, “OK, that is where I was and this is where I am!” Then you turn around and draw out a straight line and say “So, this is where I must be going!” You extrapolate the future from your past.

The Expert Theory is another future theory. Ask an expert – they’re always happy to give sound advice. However, ask 20 experts and you will get at least 10 different answers. This always reminds me of the kindergarten class that was given a turtle. Unable to determine if the turtle was male or female, they voted.

My personal favorite theory of the future is what I call the Preferable Theory. The key to this theory is recognizing that the future does not exist someplace “out there”. It lies here within us.

When applying the Preferable Theory we should ask ourselves, “Which of the many possibilities, do I prefer? Do I want mobility? Stability? To hire new staff? To develop systems? Do I want more time with the family?

At the beginning of each year, month, week and day I review my preferable future and modify it if necessary. Why? Because I change as does the world around me.

So, what is your theory of the future? How do you arrive at what you think is going to happen? How do you shape your vision of the future?

Could it be time for you to reconsider your theory of the future?