BYC

I encounter a lot of questions of a similar variation from professionals who are in their 20’s and 30’s and 40’s.

You are totally screwed. There is no hope. You are damned for the rest of your life.

I am just channelling the absolute worst case scenario that could happen from here on. That is, if you do envision all doom and gloom and adopt a scarcity mindset, it might become true.

But, Future is always an invention in our mind because it has not happened yet. You could invent a future where everything is doomed OR invent a future where you are thriving because of the adversity you had to endure in the present.

It is a choice, yes, your future is a choice. You can decide what story you want to invent about your future.

If you feel desperate and can’t see yourself painting a beautiful future, you should step out of your mind and look at all the possibilities that manifested in your life that you never envisioned even 5 years back.

How do I paint a future?

There are several concepts that have been invented to create a new reality.

Working backwards : Imagine if you want to get promoted from an intern to an senior engineer in 5 years, what is your process ? It would somewhat look like this

• What does a Senior Engineer at (you-name-it) firm do?
• Are there any Senior engineers that I know that I can reach out and talk to?
• What are the skillsets that you are expected to learn and how can you demonstrate them?
• What are the professional groups I need to be part of?
• What are the potential obstacles to get to my destination?
• What happens if midway through my journey, I realize that I want to pursue some other career?
  • Am I thinking about another path because I feel the current path is difficult?
  • or
  • Am I thinking about another path because I dont want to put in this effort?

After gathering answers to majority of your questions, imagine that you have already achieved your goal and write down a few paragraphs on how you overcame all the obstacles and challenges that came your way. Be as graphic and as descriptive as possible.

Why this exercise?

Future is something that we create. If you have a good awareness of what kind of problems you might have to overcome, you are more likely to take steps towards achieving those goals.

Good luck!