I wanted to call this article “Back to the Future,” but I felt Universal would have taken issue. For those of you that don’t know, I am a time travel fan. I couldn’t say that I would go to either the past or the future. The future sounds exciting, sure, but according to my school transcript in History, the past would be just as surprising. The big question is, what can Doc and Marty do with that information once they have it? It’s not like you can alter the past because you don’t want something to happen. I subscribe to the Time Machine theory that the past would have had to happen in order to travel back in time to try and fix it. It can be an eye crosser for sure.
What if you knew what your future would be? Would it help you in your decisions for the present? It’s not like Sarah Conner can stop Judgment Day. Let me rephrase the question. If you could see the future, would it drive your path in the present? Call it predictions; call it manifesting. But the saying, “if you don’t know where you have been, you can’t know you are going” is equally important to your future as, “if you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there?” To utilize your future you must visualize, plan backwards, and identify conflicts.
Seeing Through Time
The vision in your mind of where you want to be is your time machine. Traveling at 88 miles per hour, you transcend into another time and place. Everything you see, hear, and feel is happening as real as the things in the present. I have written many times about the day I was told I would die of cancer. The path in the woods I traveled to, and the porch overseeing the mountain I viewed in the crisp altitude while I sipped my coffee. I could smell the coffee, feel the warm smoke rising from the cup and hear the nature that surrounded me. I knew that was real so I couldn’t die that weekend. You may be thinking about your retirement, the big salary or the title. What if you could do it? Great Scotts!
So now you know your destiny. You have seen it. Many people would start with the simple question: “Where do I start?” You should actually start with ideas of what it is like to be there. The details in your vision will give you the answers. From there, you work backwards to the beginning of your path. Each step identifying landmarks of where you are and how did it happen. You are now sitting behind the desk as president of your brand. The way you dress, the car you drive, and the people you talk to are all there because you put them there.
What made you get there? Perhaps your nice car came from your move to VP. How did you get to VP, and what moves did you have to get there? Each step backwards from the end gives you distinguishable goals you can identify to understand how you got to the end. All you have to do is map them out. Take the time to write out each step as a goal.
"A goal without a plan is just a wish."
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
It goes without saying that no path is filled only with sunshine and rainbows. You must expect challenges and conflicts. If you were actually ready for your dreams, you would have them already. Swallow your pride, deflate your chest, and realize that you need to work on the things that have you here instead of being there. This could be internal struggles, external competition, geography, education, experience. The goals determine the conflict and the understanding and willingness to take on those conflicts determines your ability to get to the next goals. Under each milestone, write out what it looks like and what you need to overcome to get there.
The Doc did have it wrong. Where you are going, you do need roads. Yes, I am speaking metaphorically. The most important thing to realize in creating your path is it absolutely will not be a straight path. Roads have curves, loops, forks and sometimes dead ends. Put me on an old country road filled with views over a straight city road any day. Your destination is only as rich and rewarding as the path you take. Enjoy the detours through the small towns, learn from the locals, and take time to watch the sunset. Take it all in, as you go back to the future.
