Sometimes in life there are profound statements that short-circuit your brain temporarily while you try to grasp the core concept and all its meaning. Charlie Smith, my mentor and friend, often does this to my brain. Here’s why he says not to bother planning for the future or trying to design the future: by the very act of looking at the future, it changes. You can never see the future because by seeing it you’ve changed it. I know…brain cramp! Well, Charlie wrote this concept in a story-poem-like format and it’s posted here in the Library of Professional Coaching. See if you can get your brain around it, and then tell me what you think it means…particularly, what does it mean for leaders? What does it mean for those of us who coach leaders?
“The Future changes every time you look at it, because you looked at it, and then everything else changes too.” — Nicolas Cage.
I’m going with: it’s a message about living in the present, being present, focusing on being in the now. And that we should design life by paying attention to what matters most rather than being driven by past-based fears or future-based plans.
Thanks, Charlie, for the brain twist!
Suzi, as a professional astrologer and spiritual mentor, the future is an everyday topic. I agree with the Nicholas Cage quote, but the truth of it is why we should not stop looking at the future while grounded in the present.
Here’s how I hold the future. I believe we all have a destiny, but also have a degree of freewill to choose how that destiny rolls out in our life. By looking at the planetary cycles as they interact with a person’s birth moment (birth chart), we get a sense of the future and can take actions in the present to optimize what we desire for our future.
The very act of looking at the future aids its manifestation which is empowering if you think positively and self-destructive if you are pessimistic. I empower my clients to create the life they desire by understanding the possibilities ahead. Then life happens, but with less surprise and more design.
Thanks for raising this issue and for all your meaningful blogs!
Thanks, Diane! I love the concept of the future as a moving target. It gives me hope that the future I want to create is possible but not set in stone. 🙂