I recently read a quote from noted organizational behaviourist and best-selling author, James Clear that said instead of worrying about next year, worry about tomorrow and next week (I'm paraphrasing). The common advice these days is that we spend too much time worrying about things that may or may not happen in the future, which clouds our thinking and ruins our experience in the current moment. I read this advice and spent a moment examining my own thought process and realized that I am guilty of spending far too much time thinking about what will happen in the future; and, I realized things never turn out to be as bad as I had imagined they would. I was worrying too much about the future, not enjoying the moment, and in the end it wasn’t worth the effort.
Why was this happening? I realized that as a business leader, a C-level executive, that our success in our roles depends in part on our ability to be prepared for the worst, to have our organizations ready for anything that comes our way. Also, every piece of information we get or every suggestion presented to us has to be analyzed by thinking two or three steps ahead about what will occur if we take this course of action or that course of action. My own analogy for this skill set possessed by good C-level leaders is, seeing the rain clouds coming before it started raining and having the team and organization ready in advance for the storm. This was a skill that I was particularly proud of. Another analogy for this skill was playing chess and always thinking three moves ahead, while the rest of the world is playing checkers.
I came to the conclusion that this skill that I was so proud of in my professional capacity was bleeding over into my personal thought process and preventing me to some degree from enjoying the present moment. I had a friend once remark that I never seemed satisfied, I always wanted more. Now this may have been another issue I had, but it could have also been my regular worry about future events.
Can I turn off this skill and stop playing chess? Stop worrying so much about the future? I’m not sure that a person can turn this ON and OFF, like a switch.I don’t know that I want to. Thinking about the future has served me well in my personal life, helping me avoid potential problems for myself and my family, especially when imparting wisdom to my sons.
The alternative is to not think about the future at all. In business this will stall your career, as people advance in their profession based on the experience and judgement they bring to an organization. Thinking about the future comes from your experience and judgement developed over years of living and working.It’s an asset you grow over time. It’s how you earn your grey hair.
I’m not riddled with anxiety or paralyzed by fear, so I'm not letting my forward thinking get the best of me. If anything I need to fine tune this skill so I can modulate it downward in my personal life - not worry about the future so much and enjoy the present a little more. I believe it comes down to our ability to compartmentalize what happens during the work day and leave that at the office, or in our work world and not burden our home life and families with these work issues. This is a skill all business leaders need to have anyway. Being able to leave work at the office is crucial to having a good family life and essential in order to maintain friendships.
Why do non-business people spend so much time dwelling on hypothetical future events? Social media is guilty of creating FOMO ( Fear Of Missing Out), in particular Facebook and Instagram, that are notorious for depicting false stellar lives of friends or strangers we follow on those platforms. This would feed into part of the equation, where we overthink not doing something and may miss an opportunity at fabulousness we’ve seen on a social media platform. My advice is obvious - don’t always believe what you see or read on social media; most of what's posted there is for click count and how many likes you can get. Even the most disciplined person get excited when someone likes their post. Don’t get drawn into believing it's all true. Better yet, keep your social media time to a minimum.
If you spend too much time thinking about the future, do what I'm pledging to do myself. Live for today and enjoy each moment, but keep your eyes open for storm clouds.
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