What good does guessing the future do for me?

2026 Day 195. #PersonalDays.

A person looks back most commonly at the moments one regrets. They do not look towards the happier memories or count their blessings for the good things often. One always things about the decisions that could have made their lives simply better than they are currently.

However, when the same person looks to the future they are suddenly more optimistic. They look at what can work out and how they wish it would so they can have even better lives. They forget past patterns and chalk failures up to bad luck and assume that bette luck will make up for the misfortune that they have been cause previously.

This is what the books and various respected psychologists have told me.

I too am a victim of the former but not the latter. My anxiety does not let me focus on the good and I can be rather pessimistic about the future.

So I decided things need to change. I adopted a simple motto and it’s helped me in a few ways initially.

Now I’ve refined the idea and the process and while I still fall back into my old habits, I know these ideas can help overcome them. Though sometimes, I find myself looking for comfort or a second chance at some decisions, I need to work harder on my mental strength.

Live in the present. Plan for the future.

Living does not only involve having fun. It is about giving your 100% in the moment, putting it all into whatever you’re currently doing. Get so lost in whatever you’re in the present that you forget that you are even alive. You must work like a machine for those moments.

This is the feeling of the “flow state” that you can achieve with practice. Meditation and acute concentration helps.

There is nothing you can do that will change the past. Anything you do will only affect the current moment or the future. Each activity or event that you do, must be aligned with living in the moment or planning for the future.

Take decisions quicker and swifter. You have often deliberated over decisions until the last moment and even then you’ve gone wrong. Even if you play everything right, you can fall victim to bad luck.

Instead of building a list of pros and cons, focus on using the experience of others to guide you. Ask the people around you, Reddit advice, YouTube, etc. Do not browse them like scrolling through reels, but do it with conviction and intensity, that at the end of your research you will find reach a conclusion.

If you can’t stop thinking about the past, derive lessons from it.

The past is just who you were in those moments of time. It does not have to define who you are for the rest of your life. Look back at the decisions that you most think about, maybe they are about relationships, or about your professional/academic life, or maybe about impulsive expenditures. Whatever the memory may be, make it into a lesson and learn from it so that it is never repeated again.

Every once in a while I like to imagine a better future for myself.

This isn’t what drives me but it is what keeps me going. It is the idea that whatever I’m learning or planning towards will succeed eventually, I just need to be working diligently and constantly check my course.

Talent can take you far. Hard work can help you push that limit. But simply working hard can be detrimental. You must work with planning, smartness, and a fixed aim. Otherwise you are prone to getting lost living only in the moment.

Moments are needed, and can greatly influence your future. If you keep working towards an idea you are more likely to achieve the flow state and gain temporary superhuman abilities.

Thus, use your future expectations to guide your current actions the best you can. It might not guarantee success, but losing yourself in the moment is a very productive feeling. Once you realise what it is, you will want to repeat it.

This has been the main idea behind my advice. I’m not able to apply it all the time because I’m only human. Still every time I find myself reminiscing or day dreaming too much, this is what I remind myself to bring myself back on track.

See you tomorrow.