Change Your Life: Living Skillfully

If you’ve seen the movie Back to the Future II (which I referenced in last week’s post), you’ll probably remember how Marty McFly had a glimpse of an alternate future where the bully Biff had grown rich through betting on sports, using an almanac that his future self had brought him. If I recall correctly, Biff had then had Marty’s father quietly killed and married his widow. He’d also turned the town of Hill Valley into a hideous parody of Las Vegas.

This is why we don’t play with time machines, kids. Be warned.

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Anyway, my point is that knowing how the future might be different can be highly motivational – whether it motivates us away from or towards a particular outcome. Today we’re going to take a motivational time tour, both to the past and the future.

When this baby hits 88mph, we’re going to see…

Never mind.

The Past is Another Country

If the past is another country, that means we can import things from it that flourish there and that we need, right?

So let’s start out by doing that. Motivational exercise number 1: Think of a moment in the past where you were very resourceful, where you felt like you had it all going on, where you had succeeded and were feeling confident and positive. If you’re a member of my mailing list you’ve probably done this exercise, since it’s part of the download you get when you join. Do it again now – imagine with all your senses, as clearly as possible, capture that memory and all the feelings that go with it, and link it to a finger-and-thumb press on one of your hands.

Resistance is Not Futile

Now think about something you’re doing now that you’re worried about, that you’d like to change. Project that into the future. Think about what things will be like in a year, five years, 10 years. Look, from outside yourself, at what your life will be like.

Because the thing is, if you keep doing the same thing you’re doing now, that doesn’t mean that the future will be the same as the present. If it’s something that’s doing you some kind of harm, that means that the future will be worse than the present if you don’t change something. Imagine that future as vividly as you can.

It’s kind of like the Biff version of Hill Valley, isn’t it? Not good.

But also not inevitable.

The Future’s So Bright, I’ve Got to Wear My Shades

Come back to the present now for a minute. Use your finger press to summon back that feeling of resourcefulness and think about changing the action or pattern in the present that would be responsible for creating that unwanted future. Feel how you are able to use that past success to shift your thoughts and feelings and behaviour so that you can create a different future.

Now imagine that future. Imagine, as clearly as you can, the future where you have changed that pattern and replaced it with a better one, a more positive one, a more adaptive and helpful and useful one. Make it a bright and successful future. Place yourself there, and this time experience it in the first person, from within the image, all the feelings and sounds and colours and shapes and the way that things flow and the way you act and the way people around you respond.

Now back to the present, and reinforce for yourself your ability and your choice to become the person who has that future.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life. What’s it going to be like?

(And if you need more jiggawatts to help you achieve that change, get in touch and we can talk about how to make that happen.)

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