REMEMBERING THE FUTURE YOU WANT.

Have you heard this phrase “Remember the future”? Most of us at this point are like “How is it even possible to remember a future that hasn’t even happened yet?! “

Yes, i’ll admit it is much easier to remember a past that has happened than actively imagine a future that hasn’t, let alone remember it. And for the most part, we are mostly all guilty of this short-sightedness.

Well, except for those times in school, just around 5th period where all we could do to stay seated in class was to daydream about a future that did not involve being inside a classroom or a school building for that matter. But i’m not speaking about vague daydreams about things you’d rather be doing, but of actively remembering a clear future you’ve stored in your brain.

Again, you might ask, how is it possible to remember a future that hasn’t happened. To understand this let me explain briefly what it takes to remember anything. For you to remember what your co-worker did or what transpired with a friend last week these 3 steps have to happen, – your brain stores a recording of said event, you are then able to gain access to that information/ event, and lastly you are able to make some meaning out of the information.

This means that any memory that is recorded can be stored and remembered, and remembering a FUTURE you created in your mind follows the same process as remembering the past.

Let’s ponder on this a bit. You can create an image in your mind about a desired future that has not yet happened and with repetitive thought, your brain stores the created information(s) as your memory.

This happens because your brain really can’t tell the difference between a lived experience or one you simply create by thought alone.

So what does this all mean and why is it terribly important? Firstly, it improves your mental state. Here’s how it works. As you begin to picture the future you desire, you are at the same time creating an experience that feels very real in your mind. As was said earlier, your brain can’t differentiate a mental creation from your actual reality, and so your brain releases the same feel good chemicals it would have released if it were a real experience.

Not only that, as you recreate and practice this positive way of thinking, your brain overtime upgrades your thought pattern to this new level of thinking and being, making it much easier for you to think more positively.

“According to research on mental rehearsal, once you immerse yourself in a scene/ thought, changes begin to take place in your brain. In other words, the brain starts to look like the future you want to create has already happened.” — Dr. Joe Dispenza

In essence, if you’ve been creating and remembering new happy memories of the future, your brain will look like a happy persons brain and the happier your brain is the happier your life is.

Secondly, What you believe, you walk and work towards.

Say you closed your eyes and reflected on a desired future where you helped feed 100,000 hungry individuals. And the more you remember the images of yourself standing in the midst of smiling faces gathered to receive a warm meal, and you filled with joy and a sense of satisfaction, would it be far-fetched to draw a connection between this visualization and taking real-life action? I don’t think so.

Think of it as a GPS system for your life. You enter your destination into the GPS, and it guides you there. In the same way, remembering the future helps guide you towards your desired outcome by keeping it at the forefront of your mind.

The great thing about this is you can begin to create your future anytime and from anyplace with greater consistency; during your free time, in your bedroom, bathroom, work etc. At any given time, all you need are your imagination and your willingness to create, which are present with you always.

Rehearsing a future you want shouldn’t solely be focused on material things such as “i want 8 cars, 5 mansions and a billion dollars in assets and cash”, while all of these are great….you’ll reap huger benefits by focusing on developing the “YOU” you want to become. In this future, what sort of things bring you joy, how do you show up in the different roles and hats you wear; as a parent, as a spouse, at the company you work for, at the company you own, do you exercise and live a healthy lifestyle, what do you do for fun, what kind of friends do you have, what sort of vacations do you enjoy, what does your relationship with God look like, do you go back to school for a completely different career path, do you produce that movie; what impact does it have…?

It’s a good idea to spend time on the future even when it seems like there are more important things to do in the present and even when you do not see any immediate visible return for your efforts. Consistency is key!

Give it a try! What’s the very worst that could happen? Your head becomes a much happier place to live in?!