Memories from the future

I was invited for a meeting in an office, and the meeting was moved from the office to a boardroom. Interestingly, none of us sat on the seat that was at the head. Presumably, the seat is reserved for the board chair, CEO, or whichever head is chairing the meeting.  One of us even noted that we would all come near the seat, look at it and some would even touch it, then move on to other seats. She went on to say that in all her years of working in that unit, in every meeting, everyone avoids sitting on that seat. As she said that, I intentionally moved from where I had sat and sat on the head set.

 Two things happened to me while I sat on that seat. One is that I started feeling like I am in control. Not particularly in control of the meeting, because actually I had brought a client to meet a service provider so essentially the meeting was theirs. The kind of control I was feeling is the kind that gives you calm, and that I am in charge of my thoughts, my words and my reactions. For context, I was referring my client to someone else who was selling the same products as me, but since I was running low on stock, and since I knew that this other service provider had awesome products, I referred my client to her. I knew very well that I was risking losing this client, and that was making me somewhat anxious. I was charting uncomfortable waters and it was making me feel anxious. But as I sat on this “boss” chair, I felt that I was in control and so I was about to make boss moves. I made decisions and spoke like the future CEO me would make.

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As one thing leads to another, the second thing that happened to me is that I started questioning myself on my self-perception. Who am I to me? As a service provider, where do I see myself now and in what spaces do I want to find myself? What impact do I see myself making as a thought leader? I envisioned my future self, in a seat of authority and asked myself what kind of mindset I will have adopted to get to that seat. This gave me pause in my day’s work and I spent the rest of the day researching and musing over this light-bulb moment. I would like to share my discoveries with you.

Is it wise to envision the future in order to live today? That’s a resounding YES. Absolutely yes. If I am going to make changes in my routines and habits, it is then vital for me to look into the future so that I can process exactly what steps I need to take to make my future a reality. Thus said, if I see myself as a CEO, there are some habits that I need to adopt, there are some things that I need to unlearn, learn and relearn in order to fit into the mold I see of my future self. Without clarity over the future, it is impossible to make effective changes. With clarity over my future aspirations, I will be intrinsically inspired and motivated to implement the necessary actions that will effect and actualize my goals. Therefore, writing down our vision of the future, with as much clarity as possible, helps us to figure out what we want to accomplish and also identify the aspects of ourselves that need improvement in order to achieve that change.

What is it about a routine that makes it worth doing? Routines instill discipline, improve focus and help with installing habits. After identifying aspects of ourselves that need improvement, the next step would be identifying the things we need to do frequently in order to become that person that we have envisioned ourselves as. Instead of merely hoping to improve those aspects, commit to practicing one thing regularly in order to be one step closer to your goals. If you take up this practice of routine, even one small step, you’ll discover within a matter of time that you are achieving your goals. As James Clear illustrates in his book, Atomic Habits 1% improvement per day leads to 365% improvement per year. Conversely, 1% decline per day leads to 365% decline per year. Doesn’t that give you pause too?

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Chances are you want to change your habits and improve your life so that you can have a more quality life. Whether your goals are for your personal life or for your workplace, for your employees or for the management, a great place to begin is from your memories of your future. Envision the direction you would like to take and then work backwards looking at the things that you need to change or adopt in order to accomplish that future. The Greek Philosopher, Epictetus, once said, “First say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do.” Because when you adopt the habits of the person you want to be, you will find that it is much easier to put in the work to achieve your goals and improve every single aspect of your life.

As for my meeting that spurred this thought, somehow the conversation turned back to me and things turned in my favor. I got a chance to meet a network of suppliers and now I am making “boss moves” so that I don’t ever have to run low on supply.

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