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How to get better at visualising your future self.
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." — Alan Kay
Something that comes up constantly in client conversations is how hard people find it to picture a compelling long-term future. They're not alone. Humans are wired to favour short-term gratification over long-term prosperity, and one US survey found that more than half of people rarely or never think about what the next ten years might hold. So why is it so hard, and how do you get better at it?
Hindsight, insight, foresight
To live a rich life, there are three cognitive skills worth developing: learning from the past (hindsight), understanding the present (insight), and picturing the future (foresight). Foresight is the one I focus on most as a coach, helping people simulate an inspiring vision, or several. When people ask why anyone would need help with that, I ask when they last actually did it themselves. Cue the crickets.
There are two modes of thought at play. System 1, intuitive forecasting, is fast, subconscious and emotional, the kind of thing I covered in my article on intuition. System 2, or prospecting, is slow, deliberate reasoning, the conscious argument with yourself about what to do next. Identifying what you actually want is where planning the future begins.
Motivation versus inspiration
Desire runs on two forces: a push away from pain (motivation) and a pull towards something better (inspiration). Motivation is undirected and inconsistent. Find a giant spider in the sink and you'll bolt from the room, but the moment it's gone, you relax. The same happens with a bad job: things improve slightly, a small pay rise, a kind word, and suddenly it doesn't seem so bad, so your momentum to change evaporates.
Inspiration works differently. You create it by dreaming up a detailed, exciting picture of your future, vivid enough to pull you forward. The clearer that picture and the more often you can call it to mind, the more energised you'll feel to make it real. Inspiration is directional and consistent, so even when you're knocked off course, you can correct by pointing at it again. Motivation gives the initial kick; inspiration is what keeps you going.
Why is the future so hard to picture?
In a well-known talk, the Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert says that when it comes to our future selves, we're all walking around under an illusion that our personal history has just come to an end. We look back at who we were ten years ago with mild embarrassment and think "thank god I've changed", yet find it almost impossible to believe we'll change just as much in the next ten. So we badly underestimate how different we'll become.
The neuroscience makes it worse. When we think about ourselves, a brain region called the medial prefrontal cortex lights up; when we think about strangers, it goes quiet. Studies show that when we imagine our future selves, that region quietens too, as if the brain is thinking about a stranger it doesn't much care about. The further ahead we look, the more pronounced the effect. That detachment is exactly why an inspiring long-term vision is so hard to summon, and the less connected you feel to your future self, the more short-sighted and impulsive you tend to be today.
Three ways to get better at it
1. Prospective writing
Once a week, write for fifteen uninterrupted minutes about the doors and opportunities that have opened, might open, or you'd like to open. This future-focused writing generates constructive ideas and, over time, helps your brain treat your future self as a dear friend rather than a stranger.
2. Google the future
Futurists get paid to explore what's coming. Become your own by listing the things you're interested in, food, health, AI, your city, whatever, and once a week searching "the future of" one of them. It builds the habit of being curious about what lies ahead, and makes you a better conversationalist too.
3. Predict the past
Look back at a choice you made, or didn't, and picture how things would have unfolded had you chosen differently. It's a vivid reminder that the future isn't inevitable: just as yesterday's choices shaped today, today's choices are about to shape your future.
Train your inner clairvoyant
Our brains weren't built for long-term thinking, but it's a skill you can practise. To become the best version of yourself ten years from now, get good at prospecting and build a compelling vision. It's no guarantee things will go to plan, but it will keep you moving forward when the going gets hard.
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