Getting clear about your future self
How have you changed in the last 12 months? You have changed. We all have. 2020 forced change on all of us. The question is what has changed. For better or worse. 2020 was an anomaly of a year and it forced us to adapt and change consciously or unconsciously. Change can happen at the physical, mental, environmental levels and more.
Some of my changes include weight loss. This was not intentional, but I believe it is due to eating cleaner (less eating out). I am writing regularly. My work strategy has gone more online (no surprises here). I was in denial at the beginning but when reality hit me, a switch in my brain flipped and I embraced the online world. I was not a big believer in online working. That thinking changed quickly and I am now an advocate of it! My neighbourhood is cleaner thanks to a collaboration with my local council, and I check in with my neighbours more often.
We upgrade our phones and other devices intermittently, update our software, our applications but rarely do we (consciously) think about upgrading our thinking, belief systems, our identity. Our thinking is the foundation for everything we do. So, when we upgrade or update our thinking, our belief system and identity are impacted. Our ‘old’ belief system and identity are no longer valid. It can’t be supported anymore.
2020 forced an upgrade on our thinking. None of us are the same as we were before 2020. Because we have all experienced and learned things that our former selves in 2019 did not know. Some of us have learned and grown from it whilst others are still figuring it all out. Neither is right or wrong. It is what it is. Our journeys are unique to us.
We have learned to live under new circumstances. Things that we took for granted have become events of anticipation. We have had to prioritise more stringently and at times make tough decisions. All this impacts our beliefs and our identity. We were all forced off autopilot and into reality with a bang. The great reset as many called it.
But we are in a critical moment now. What do you want going forward? Do you have clarity?
In his latest book Think Again, Adam Grant states that your present identity is no longer the same as your former identity. So, you don’t have to attach yourself to your former identity. Because if you do, you get locked into thinking that you have to do things the way you always did them. And this is NOT TRUE.
You don’t have to believe in the things you used to believe, and you don’t have to do things the way you used to do them. If you are upgrading yourself, which we all are in some way, you should do things differently from your former self and hopefully in a better way. Just like upgrading our gadgets and software improves it, so do you.
When you take a more conscious effort to notice what has changed and more importantly what you want for your future, then “you’ll notice as you go forward that everything you want in your future has the qualities of both being achievable and more measurable than the things you did in the past” says Dan Sullivan, founder of Strategic Coach.
So, I will invite you to do the same for yourself. But before you think about your future, first capture how far you have come. Make a note of what has changed. Are there changes to your physical body, your thinking, your beliefs, your identity, your relationships, your environment, your finances, your fears?
Yes, include your fears too? Whilst doing some catch-up reading this weekend I was reminded of a crucial fact about our fears. That we most often create the outcome we fear. For example, if you are worried about losing control? When you snapped at your team, you lost control. Worried about being heard? When you argued defensively, people turned away.
I have examples of my own but will leave that for my next article. For now, let’s focus on the changes.
This is an exercise with yourself about yourself, and honesty is the best policy. You may realise that some things changed for the better and some not. That’s why this moment is critical. You can still change what you want to change. This is the start to getting clear about your future self.
As always, you can reach me at yoga@yoganesadurai.com