I watched an interesting Ted talk by Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard Psychologist, who talked about how people stop growing, learning, and changing due to the illusion that change happens at a slower, almost non-existent, rate than when they were younger. Its like a self-actualizing prophecy where people start to believe that who they are at their current moment, whatever age they are currently at, is where they will be forever. He argued that people change throughout their lives but due to this “illusion” they lessen their growth development, and ability to change due to a fixed mindset and a belief that change doesn’t occur, or is unable to occur, the older you get.

As an educator I strive to teach, encourage and enable students to become life-long learners. For many people education ends at the end of high school. Many people go onto trade school, college, university, etc but this is a formalized form of education. Is learning occurring for the love of learning? Is it occurring because people want to grow, change, and evolve as individuals? Unfortunately I believe for a lot of people learning stops after high-school or their formalized education. They start their career, have kids, grow old, retire, enjoy retirement, and then die. Do they change much during their life time? Sure they change – they get older, they acquire new musical tastes, they might take up a new sport for a short time, they might travel a little bit, but do they actively seek out knowledge? Do they take time to grow as individuals? Do they constantly seek out information, knowledge, and ideas? Do they create and make things? Do they change the world?

Unfortunately “the end of history illusion” that Daniel Gilbert talked about holds people back. This fixed mindset and their inability to see the future and to work towards change creates a situation where people do not change as much as they could, inhibits creative, innovative thought that might create amazing opportunities for them and the world around them.

Benjamin Hardy’s Future-Self strategy talks about how important identity and how identity drives your personality. Your ability to see, or actualize, yourself in the future is a means to create meaningful change in your future self.

Here’s the checklist for how it works:

See your future self as a different person from who you are today.

• Imagine who your future self is.
• Hold your current identity more “loosely,” knowing that who you are right now is temporary, not permanent.
• Have the courage to admit what you truly want (tell people about your future self).
• Use your new narrative, focused on your goals, to drive your daily decisions and behavior.
• Measure your progress (deliberate practice).
• Invest in your future self (escalation of commitment)
• Never be defined by who you are right now.

Who is your future self?

Where will you be in 10 years?

Who are you “chasing”?

I think that last question is an important one: WHO ARE YOU “CHASING”?

The answer to the question will help you become to the person you want to be in the future and who you believe you should be inside (Deep thoughts by Jack Hande, LOL – SNL reference from 80’s) LOL