From A Million Possible Futures, Choose One And Shape It

No one can predict what will happen in the future. We can, however, imagine events and conditions that are yet to happen. In other words, we can predict a wide range of possible futures. Then we can pick the one that we like the best and work to make it real. This process of future gazing allows us to shape our future instead of just waiting for it to happen. We really can make the tomorrow that’s best for us.

We can shape our future by taking actions today to create the future we most desire. Architects use this same method. They draw many different designs for one building. Only one of these designs will be built, but they create a range of designs to determine which one will best fit in a specific location. We can follow the same process, imagining several possible futures before working to build the one that fits our desires. The key to success is getting the best information today that will help us predict the most likely possible futures. We don’t want to get trapped in short-term thinking. Instead, we need to have a panoramic perspective.

We will need to consider future challenges, technologies, and mindsets when we try to shape the future we want to live in. Future challenges are those things that will happen no matter what. We will have to deal with them in the future. These issues are easy to ignore now, but instead we should try to consider how we would handle them. Future technologies are the innovations that may shape human civilization in the future. And future mindsets are the perspectives that we may use to help us recognize and plan for major change.

Although we can’t predict the future, we can use the best information we have today to predict a range of possible futures. By taking this wider view, we can begin working towards the future we want to see.