#163 – How can you create your future from your present?

When dreams of "ideal scenarios" spur us into action, they act as a lever we can use in the present to create our future. But how do we ensure these dreams serve as catalysts rather than traps of disappointment? And how do we avoid losing ourselves in fantasy?

In Chekhov's "Gooseberries," Nikolai Ivanych lives entirely for a future moment. He spends years as a means to an end, treating his present only as a step toward his dream of owning a country estate. When he finally achieves it, the gooseberries are sour - but he's invested so much in this future that he forces himself to taste sweetness. He's so attached to his dream that he makes his present reality to conform to his past's vision of the future.

How can we use future visions to guide us while staying grounded in present reality? That's where the coaching tool "High Dream/Low Dream" comes in. It goes like this:

1. You verbalize these dreams (where one isn't better than the other: they're just different).
2. You choose one.
3. You focus on the actions, behaviors, or ways of beings you need to embody in the present so that the dream you've chosen becomes a reality.

Contrary to other types of "dreaming," this approach acknowledges that we naturally form different visions of possibilities, where none is to be "excluded" from what we'll accept. Instead of sacrificing our present for a single imagined future like Nikolai, we remain open to multiple paths forward.

Removing the judgment from the different outcomes we envision prevents us from being attached to one outcome while getting disappointed if anything different were to happen. More importantly, it brings focus back to present-moment agency - where real change actually happens.

The locus of control is with you: you have the power to bring your dream to reality – if that dream involves you, of course. If it doesn't involve your present actions and way of being, then it's just a fantasy, as bitter as unripe gooseberries that only taste sweet in dreams.

What different futures could unfold from how you're being right now?

Love,

Carolina

PS: I've compiled the first 91 essays in this series in a book, Unfolding Your Mind: Notes on Ghosts, Power, and the Self. If you'd like to buy it for you or someone else, you can preorder it on Kindle or paperback here. Thank you!