You don't have time. Please take this sh*t seriously.
The future is uncertain, use the time you have now.
Titles like this used to piss me off. “You only have 3 years left, do something now”, “You only have 6 months left. Lock in.”
They’re so clickbait’y and just so.. ugh... I get jitters from just thinking about it - and probably cringe a little.
But that was very close minded from me. I was looking at the surface of the title. About what it does to a person’s mind; where that mind wonders; how shallow it is.
But I’ve grown up now. I opened both my eyes and my mind.
I realised that few of the good creators were using clickbait title to guide the person to unlock their high agency. Because frankly, the world is falling apart.
Everything is being automated. The governments don’t seem to know what they’re doing. Companies stopped caring about the consumers they’re serving (only pleasing the shareholders’ wallets). People are losing human connection.
But we are still in the ‘good’ times. I can’t comfort you and tell you it’s going to stay like that forever. A lot of my radars are screaming that we’re about to see the biggest change we’ve yet to see. I’m not going to sit here and lie to you that I have a crystal ball and it’s only 1734 days left until that happens.
I don’t have that magic crystal ball. But what I do have, is the ability to use the day I have now. To use the current times to the best of my knowledge and take every opportunity I see that will take me closer to the goal(s).
And you should too. Neither I nor you have all the time in the world. We can’t just sit on our asses (or perhaps laying) doomscrolling, or researching the same topic for 11th time because this time it will change your life. If you have big aspirations, big goals, use the time you have.
Sure, being comfortable and not giving a damn of what’s going to happen in the close future feels somewhat safe. But once the ‘worse’ times come, you’ll wish you could go back to this exact moment and start today.
And the way our brain is programmed is not helping this situation either.
Your brain dismisses future as much as it can, because the only thing that matters to it is keeping you alive today. That’s why we indulge in dopamine seeking activities, because ‘fun’ today is more important than achieving goals in the future. The future is uncertain, today isn’t (to a degree).
So when you’re fighting to take the necessary actions to achieve the life you want, you’re not fighting just one thing. You’re fighting the time ticking, you’re fighting every version of you that wants to keep you in bed (however many versions that may be), you’re fighting your brains survival instinct, you’re fighting brain seeking dopamine, and so much more. That’s why it makes it so hard.
Nobody can, nor will, live your life for you. Nobody will take the driver seat and steer you towards the life you want. Only YOU can do that.
“What if you don’t have the skills or the knowledge?” There has never been easier time to learn anything. University certificates are becoming less valuable, age is becoming less important. The only thing the world cares at the moment are the outcomes. If you can deliver, you are perceived and deemed to be valuable.
Besides, modern times have exposed it’s not the knowledge that’s the missing equation, but the not taken action. You’ll be surprised how many people are sitting on great knowledge that could help many people, but they’re not willing to put the necessary work in, hence their trees don’t bear any fruit.
You don’t need to have some profound knowledge noone else has, you just have to have (or build) the right skills and you’ll be able to provide any product/service the world needs.
But you need to be willing to put the work in. And it might take time. Depending on what it is exactly that you want to build/make/help with, the time necessary to achieve that will vary. But unless you start, the time remaining to achieve that will stay the same.
Not to mention the world and times being different, YOU won’t be the same. You’ll be older, perhaps wiser, but you won’t have as much energy or time. You will most likely have more responsibilities, more commitments than you have now.
There is a lot of uncertainty, but unless you are willing to get past that fog, you’ll never get past it. You’ll live in the ‘what if’ forever.
What is certain is that you’re alive now, and are more than capable of achieving any of your wildest dream if you’re willing to take the necessary, sometimes uncomfortable, and painful steps.
You may think you have time. You don’t. The world is shifting, and it is either taking you with or leaving you astray.
I’m not going to say there won’t ever be any opportunities in the future. But why delay it? You may dread having to do some of the necessary steps you need to take, but trust me, once you take them, you will thank yourself you took them.
The Nuance:
There might be moments were you have no idea what to do, or whether the thing you’re doing will matter. Or by forcing to make the most out of your time, you stress because time is ticking and you still haven’t figured it out.
The most important part is that you take your time. That is the paradox of this nuanced essay.
Because what good is forcing high agency on yourself, if it leaves you paralysed? That just has the opposite desired effect.
Alex Hormozi has a great argument for this, he said: “If you don’t know what to do, build capacity”.
On the days you don’t feel it, do anything that will help the future you. The future you that has more energy, more knowledge, and more capacity. Put trust in the future version of you that he or she will make the most out of the capacity you build now. You may not know now, but the future you does. Don’t let both versions of you down.
Don’t let anyone talk you out of your dreams.
Your biggest fan,
M
It is easy to let the times and the advancement of technology create a sense of hopelessness about the future. With each moment, it feels like time is ticking away. And, clearly, we are all feeling it. But when we look to history, we realize that over the last 100 years we have adapted and grown. I believe we will continue to evolve, despite the challenges. Building capacity, moving your life forward, and finding peace within yourself is the single best plan you can have. I like to get curious and explore different ways to gain knowledge because fundamentally, I believe knowledge is power. When we do this, we open our minds to possibilities. Thanks for a great reflective piece, Mick, and I love the new picture.
"Besides, modern times have exposed it’s not the knowledge that’s the missing equation, but the not taken action." I've been thinking a lot recently about how traditionally smart people don't automatically "make it" in the ways that they want, and I think that's because of a tendency to live internally instead of externally. I love your note on capacity and nuance; I'm curious how you build capacity when that paralysis kicks in?