Here’s the best news: there are always choices, alternatives, more than one way. This is also true when it comes to our future and how we set/ think about our goals.
Anytime we’re making a decision to start something new or set a new goal, we make the decision based on a imaginary future we’ve created in our mind and an alternative one. For example, maybe you’re someone who is pretty consistent in your triathlon training, but unsure and insecure about your abilites and you’re thinking about stepping up from Ironman 70.3 distance to Ironman distance. One future you imagine is you overcome your doubt and insecurity, race your first full Ironman and love it so much you can’t wait to do the next. But you may also imagine an alternative future where you don’t stay consistent as training ramps up, you can’t do it all, you don’t overcome the doubt or insecurity and ultimately DNF your Ironman attempt. The decision is made based on these two alternative futures in your mind which are based on your thoughts and belief systems you have about yourself.
Most often we either don’t set goals at all or we stick to setting achievable goals, the types of goals that are based on what we’ve done in the past. The reason we do this because it offers a sense of calm for our brain…we’re reaching towards something, but not too far as to take us away from what’s comfortable. Our brains LOVE the familiar. Goals based on confidence from the past are familiar.
But what if there was another way? An alternative to looking to the past for what we can achieve. What if instead, we looked to our future as a clear canvas of possibility? One where our imagination can run wild because there are no constraints. This is true when we choose to live and set goals from a future focused mindset.
Ultimately, we can only live in the here and now. We cannot live in the past and we cannot live in the future. Both only exist in our minds and effect us in the present by way of our thoughts. That means our alternative futures always include a choice between repeating the results of our past/being at the effect of life OR creating new results based on beliefs that support who we want to become. It our privilege as humans to get to imagine a future that is better than our past. We think we’re just being realistic, but how do we know what realistic is when we don’t know what our future holds?
This awareness has opened my eyes to a new level of possibility! Think of what we could achieve if we all raised the level of our thinking and lived future focused.
If you think about your future with unlimited possibility, unlimited creativity and unlimited imagination, what comes up for you?
There are no restrictions to how you imagine your future.
And how you imagine your future is what you will create for yourself.
What I imagine for myself this is: I am the 30-34 age group champion at 2019 Ironman Chattanooga. If I looked to my past for evidence that this were possible, I’d be empty handed. So I choose to create my own alternative future: one where I believe it so strongly and commit to what needs to get done and {most importantly} live as if it’s good as done. Believing in this future is so fun! It exists in my mind and no one can take that away from me.
So, I ask again….
If you think about your future with unlimited possibility, unlimited creativity and unlimited imagination, what comes up for you?
Now it’s time to get to work blowing your own mind.
