I’m leaning into the idea of imagining being an active, collective verb rather than something that happens alone in your head.
Is there something that your possible future self might love that you could try on for size right now? Not just in your head, but in “real life”?
I’m just back from a month working remotely in a different city. A few people have asked us if we were scouting it out as a possible place to retire. Not really — but we were testing out what it felt like to:
- Continue working while away from home (Took me a few days to snap out of holiday mode, but then it did feel like a holiday after work hours since we had less on our calendar)
- Function in a different time zone from our main work contacts (A bit annoying — I didn’t like waking up three hours into the work day at home. It felt like I needed to log on right away, before coffee and a walk.)
- Be away from home for a month (It’s an in-between length of time — but I really liked it. Felt long but manageable at the same time)
- Live near our kids who are usually the far-away ones (Loved it)
Can you get a sense that trying the experiment is a different way of imagining our future than just thinking about it? It helps to fill in the details of what you might be trying to create.
No pressure, just curiosity and fun. Like putting on a costume. Looks terrible? So what!
What could you try on for size to fill in your imagined details about your next chapter?
(And, not surprisingly, this idea can work for organizations not just individuals. How does that change it for you?)
Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash