What might your best future life look like ten years from now?
Ten years is long enough for substantial change. You could develop new skills, change direction, create different sources of income, move somewhere new or become involved in work and activities you cannot yet imagine.
However, designing your future is not about predicting exactly what will happen. The future is uncertain, and many possible futures could emerge. The purpose of futures thinking is to explore those possibilities, decide which ones appeal to you and begin taking practical steps towards the future you would prefer.
What is a preferred future?
A preferred future is one that you would positively like to help create.
It is not a rigid prediction or an inflexible ten-year plan. Your circumstances, priorities and understanding will change. New opportunities will appear, while some plans may no longer make sense.
Your preferred future can evolve with you.
The value of creating one is that it gives you a direction. What you do today helps shape what becomes possible tomorrow.
Your future will arrive anyway
Whether you plan for it or not, the next ten years will pass.
Without any conscious direction, your future will be shaped largely by circumstances, routines and other people’s priorities. Taking time to explore what you want does not give you complete control, but it allows you to participate more deliberately in shaping what comes next.
A simple way to begin is to consider three questions:
- Where have I come from, and where am I now?
- What are the many possible futures that could emerge?
- Which actions can I take now to move towards my preferred future?
Understand where you are now
Before looking forward, examine your present situation.
Consider your:
- experiences and achievements;
- skills and knowledge;
- relationships and responsibilities;
- interests and sources of curiosity;
- values and assumptions;
- resources and constraints;
- changing circumstances.
Your past does not determine your future, but it provides useful evidence. It can reveal recurring patterns, underused strengths and lessons that should inform your next chapter.
Explore many possible futures
There is never only one possible future.
Instead of immediately choosing a single ten-year goal, imagine several different paths your life could take. These might include:
- a continuation of your present direction;
- an optimistic future in which important opportunities emerge;
- a more difficult future that requires adaptation;
- unexpected wildcard futures;
- an aspirational future that reflects what you most want to create.
Exploring many possible futures can loosen the grip of your present assumptions. It helps you notice possibilities that a conventional goal-setting exercise might overlook.
You do not have to commit to one complete plan. Some possibilities can be explored through small, low-risk experiments.
Describe your preferred future
Once you have considered several possibilities, describe the future you would most like to work towards.
Imagine an ordinary day in that future:
- Where are you living?
- What work are you doing?
- How are you earning a living?
- What have you learned?
- Who is part of your life?
- How are you spending your time?
- What gives your life meaning and enjoyment?
Be specific enough to make the future tangible, while leaving space for discovery and change.
Work backwards from the future
The next step is to work backwards from your preferred future.
Ask:
- What would need to be true five years from now?
- What progress could I make during the next year?
- What could I begin testing this month?
- What is one useful action I could take today?
This futures-thinking method is known as backcasting. Rather than projecting the present forward, you begin with a preferred future and work backwards to identify possible steps towards it.
You can also consider obstacles, gaps and alternative routes. A useful plan does not pretend uncertainty has disappeared; it helps you prepare to respond to it.
Begin with an experiment
You do not need to redesign your entire life today.
Choose one element of your preferred future and conduct a small experiment. Take a short course, speak to someone working in an interesting field, test a business idea, visit a possible location or practise a new skill.
The result does not have to be success or failure. The purpose is to generate evidence that helps you make the next decision.
“Nothing we do can change the past, but everything we do changes the future.”
— Ashleigh Brilliant
Design Your Next Decade
Design Your Next Decade is a practical online futures-thinking guide for exploring many possible futures and shaping your next chapter.
The guide is organised into a series of pages that take you step by step through the process. The different sections include downloadable PDF exercises and worksheets that you can complete and keep.
You can work through the material at your own pace as you:
- turn your ideas into practical actions and experiments.
- examine where you are now;
- explore many possible futures;
- describe your preferred future;
- identify obstacles and opportunities;
- work backwards to determine possible next steps;
