Three good things tomorrow

Here's a quick and very effective futures thinking technique that over the past three months we have found to be personally useful.

This exercise is a powerful mind projection tool, which you can use to train your mind to think more optimistically about the future and your personal ability to create it.

In a journal, note down your answers to these 3 questions:

'What three things are you looking forward to happening tomorrow?'

'What can you do today to increase the likelihood that each of these things will actually happen?'

'If these things do however end up not actually happening, what will you do instead to make up for it?'

As an example, you could have:

'What three things are you looking forward to happening tomorrow?'

(1) Making a delicious mushroom risotto, (2) going to a heated yoga class, (3) eating the risotto on the beach tomorrow evening.

'What can you do today to increase the likelihood that each of these things will actually happen?'

(1) Order the risotto ingredients from the Checkers Sixty60 app now, (2) book a space in the yoga class via the online app today, (3) get the picnic basket out of the garage in preparation for the beach outing.

If these things do however end up not actually happening, what will you do instead to make up for it?'

(1) If loadshedding ends the risotto cooking idea, I'll order sushi take-aways instead, (2) if there is no space in the yoga class, I'll go for a run instead, (3) if it rains, I'll set up the picnic in the lounge.

It's as simple as that.

Getting into the simple practice of using your anticipatory skills through this framework, as well as your personal agency to create your desired future, is a habit that starts small, but can build self-confidence with time.

The future is not something that you are a victim of, but rather it's the space in which you have your only agency to act.

Give it a go.