Jun 20, 2019
One of the big themes I've found after utilizing personality tests is something called futuristic thinking. It's a strategic mindset that sees everything that could be. It's an incredible gift and superpower. I want to share with you how to use this way of thinking to set goals, learn to speak your story out loud and further your entrepreneurial outreach to new heights.
Links and Resources Mentioned in this Episode
The Focus Planner By Michael Hyatt's
Futuristic Thinking with Personality Tests
Have you ever taken one of those personality tests? Not the ones like which Harry Potter character or Kardashian are you, but the ones that dig a little bit deeper, like the Myers–Briggs, the DISC, or the StrengthsFinder.
One of the big themes I've found from these tests that has been playing out in my life is something called futuristic thinking. It's a strategic mindset that sees everything that could be. It's an incredible gift and superpower. It's why I love board games like Settlers of Catan that mix economy, diplomacy, and just the right amount of chance. I love thinking several moves ahead when I place my next settlement and imagine the baffled and frustrated look on my friends' faces as all their plans start to crumble. Got you. It still happens to me just as often, too, and for the sake of the children, I won't repeat what I say when it happens to me.
Connecting The Dots for My Clients
When working with my clients, it allows me to see their potential and energize them with a compelling vision around it. I can connect the dots on what they see as normal, boring, or obvious in their business, and the value that they bring to their audience. Then show them how it's their unique edge to accomplish their dreams. It helps them think bigger, aim higher, and take action on achieving their goals and their dreams.
It's a beautiful thing to share. But like every superpower, it can be a blessing or a curse. It can be equally destructive when not channeled properly, and it has to be tapered with patience and presence, or it can drive you crazy. Most of growing a business or living a good life is not achieved goals, victory laps, or jumping up into the air and freezing in place as victorious 80s music plays and the credits roll.
Celebrate Your Progress
You know that old cliché, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step? I'm the type that barely notices that first step and only looks to the 999.999 or whatever miles still to go. It's good to be ambitious like this to an extent. It keeps you going. But if you only ever see how far there is to go, and never acknowledge or celebrate your progress, however small it may seem, you end up burning yourself out.
Even when you do complete that 1000 mile journey, you learn stuff along the way and come up with three more journeys you need to take. Sure, I've got a book, but it's not a New York Times bestseller. Sure, I've got a business and choose my own hours, but it's not fully scalable or systematized. Sure, I'm making more than I did last year, I may be even on track to doubling it, but that's still not enough to buy that dream house or dream car, or whatever the case may be.
Setting Goals Using The Focus Planner
You set a big vision for your year and break it down into smaller steps, down to the day. It helps you not only define a goal, but set a reward for when you achieve the goal. For some, it may help motivate them to achieve that goal, to see this nice reward at the end of the tunnel. But for me, it's more of a good way to prompt me to stop and enjoy the achievement, before I move on to the next mountain to climb. And I love checking off the tasks in the daily checklists, and seeing how I am moving towards those goals.
It gives me a little moment at the end of the day to congratulate myself on the progress I've made, recognize what I'm doing, and return into the present moment, instead of thinking far into the future of where my big, ambitious visions want to take me.
Speak Your Story Out Loud
Another great approach I learned from one of my coaches, Jeremy Ginsburg, is to first speak the story out loud. I should be farther along than this. I should be making more, climbing harder, doing better. It's good just to say these things out loud, so you can really hear them. When they're in your head, they're hard to define and pin down.
They're just nasty little something's wrong with me kind of feelings that will keep eating away at you if you don't shed light and attention on them. But once they're out in the open, they're much smaller, more manageable, and sometimes just downright silly.
Next, once they're out in the open, I speak as if I am that person that has achieved all of those things and is who my future thinking self wants me to be. It can feel like a silly or impractical thing to do when you're feeling stressed. But it makes a surprising difference, and I often find I am already that person in many ways, as soon as I start to speak from that place.
Remember that having an un-achieved goal or vision for where you want to go is not a flaw or a shortcoming. It's a fuel source, and if you're always looking to achieve more without enjoying where you are right now, you'll never find that happiness or satisfaction that you're hoping for, like a pot of gold in a rainbow that keeps moving further and further away.
Speak To Yourself About The Future
In closing, I challenge you to take some time today to speak to yourself as that future person you see and want to be, and celebrate your recent wins and progress, because you deserve it. And I'll do the same. All right, let's get some more victory 80s music up in here.
Thanks for listening to the Story Engine Podcast. Be sure to check out the show notes and resources mentioned on this episode and every other episode at thestoryengine.co. If you're looking to learn more about how to use storytelling to grow your business, then check out my new book, Selling With Story: How to Use Storytelling to Become an Authority, Boost Sales, and Win the Hearts and Minds of Your Audience. This book will equip you with actionable strategies and templates to help you share your unique value and build trust in presentations, sales, and conversations, both online and offline. Learn more at sellingwithstory.co. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.