The Future Authoring Program — Jordan B. Peterson

Lobster B. Peterson

Future Authoring

This is taken from Jordan Peterson’s Future Authoring course.

“Responsibility. That’s what gives life meaning. It’s like lift a load, then you can tolerate yourself right because look at you. You’re useless, easily hurt, easily killed. Why should you have any self-respect? That’s the story of the fall. Pick something up and carry it, make it heavy enough so that you can think, ‘Useless as I am at least I could move that from there to there.” — From https://youtu.be/QctT0Oc_uQQ

FUTURE AUTHORING PROGRAM

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 1

The full future authoring exercise has 2 different stages, each with a number of steps.

In Stage 1, you will write generally about your goals. In Stage 2, you will specify and clarify the nature of those goals, and begin to strategize. We recommend that you complete the process over two or more separate days. People who allow themselves some time to sleep when they are making important decisions appear to do a better job and to benefit more. The entire exercise will require approximately two and a half hours. On the first day, you might want to complete Stage 1. On the second day, you could complete Stage 2. You will need to concentrate and process what you are writing, so try to complete this exercise when you are feeling alert and relatively unrushed. Simply follow the on-screen instructions as you go along. Press the “Next” button to move onto the next screen. If you need to take a short break or two of 5–10 minutes to get up and walk around during the process, please feel free to do so. You will be asked to write down your private thoughts and feelings. Please type them directly into the box provided. At times, you may be asked to write non-stop, without regard for grammar or spelling. At other times, you may be asked to revise what you have written. This exercise is meant to benefit YOU personally. Everything you write will remain accessible only to you and those you designate as recipients. The report you produce will summarize your personal goals and strategies. You and your recipients, if any, will be emailed a copy of this report shortly after you complete the exercise. During some sections, you will be asked to write for specified amounts of time. Please try your best to write for the amount of time specified (so, if it asks you to write for 1–2 minutes, please write continuously for at least 60 seconds).

The Ideal Future: Preliminary Notes and Thoughts

In this exercise you will begin to create a version, in writing, of your ideal future. William James, the great American psychologist, once remarked that he did not know what he thought until he had written his thoughts down. When he didn’t know what to write, he wrote about anything that came to mind. Eventually, his ideas became focused and clarified. Brainstorm. Write whatever comes to mind. Don’t worry too much about sentence construction, spelling, or grammar. There will be plenty of time to write polished sentences later. Avoid criticizing what you write. Premature criticism interferes with the creative process.

Imagining Your Ideal Future

You will start with some exercises of imagination that will help you warm up to the task of defining your future. These will include 8 questions such as “what could you do better?”, “what would you like to learn about?”, “what habits would you like to improve?”. After briefly answering these 8 questions, you will be asked to write for 15 minutes about your ideal future, without editing or criticism. Let yourself daydream or fantasize. You are trying to put yourself into a state of reverie, which is a form of dream-like thinking that relies heavily on internal imagery. This kind of thinking allows all your different internal states of motivation and emotion to find their voice. It might be best to concentrate on your future three to five years down the road, although you may have reasons to concentrate on a shorter or longer time-span (eighteen months to ten years).

1.1 One Thing You Could Do Better

If you could choose only one thing that you could do better, what would it be? Think and write for at least two minutes, then move on.

One massive thing that I could do better is to be more assertive and confident with my actions and words. I often find that I am not as confident or brave enough to speak with conviction for fear of being judged or criticized due to my opinions or principles.

I am fearful of receiving harsh criticism for speaking up and being assertive. I find that I am a “nice guy” or a “people pleaser.” I care too much about what other people think of me then what I think of myself. I could be more assertive and more confident when I’m speaking, talking, or carrying out an important task or action. I want conviction and courage to carry my truth outward and if I’m wrong, I get to learn.

1.2. Things to Learn About

What would you like to learn more about, in the next six months? Two years? Five years? Think and write for at least two minutes, then move on.

I would love to learn more film-making and also more music. Music inspires me and allows to authentically express my emotions and being. It is also therapeutic.

Film-making helps me express myself through the stories I create and it fires up my imaginative state. I’ve seen other great filmmakers make successful careers and lives with their passion; they have a mission that is motivating and inspiring. If I improve these things, then it would add tremendous value to my life.

1.3. Improve Your Habits

What habits would you like to improve? -At school? -At work? -With friends and family? -For your health? -With regards to smoking/alcohol/drug use? Think and write for at least two minutes, then move on.

For my habits, I want to permanently quit pornography and pursue more meaningful ways of being such as intimate relationships or passionate sex. I don’t want to smoke, drink, or have alcohol.

As for beer, no beer ever! I want to remain sober and wine is okay since there are occasions where it is fun or healthy to drink it, but beer or other lager is a no.

I will avoid situations where people or even I am tempted to drink unhealthy amounts such as in bars, parties, or pubs.

I also want to have an amazing morning ritual which will include gratitude, meditation, exercise, a healthy breakfast, and so forth. I also want to make a consecutive habit of reading 25 pages per day. As for my night ritual, I want to reflect on the day and have relaxing, beautiful sleep.

I want to have the best, most amazing relationship with my friends and family. I want to be grateful and actively participate in their growth and well-being.

For my health, I want to have a great diet of greens, meat, and all around healthy stuff. The Keto Diet is something that I am very interested in, sugar will be limited heavily.

1.4. Your Social Life in the Future

Friends and associates are an important part of a meaningful, productive life. Take a moment to consider your social network. Think about the friends you might want to have, and the connections you might want to make. It is perfectly reasonable to choose friends and associates who are good for you. Describe your ideal social life.Think and write for at least two minutes, then move on.

Man, I want to have the best-est of friends. These friends are similar to the boys at Yes Theory.

My friend group will consist of amazing, open minded people who are both willing to grow and to seek discomfort. They are wise and smart but also know how to have fun.

This group will be close like a family and I want to have dinner and beautiful gatherings with them often. We understand each other and know what we are authentically. We are definitely a family from all places of the world. We may even have similar interests and skills alike but different.

1.5. Your Leisure Activity in the Future

Take a moment to consider the activities you would like to pursue outside of obligations such as work, family and school. The activities you choose should be worthwhile and personally meaningful. Without a plan, people often default to whatever is easiest, such as television watching, and waste their private time. If you waste 4 hours a day, which is not uncommon, then you are wasting 1400 hours a year. That is equivalent to 35 40-hour work weeks, which is almost as much as the typical individual spends at his or her job every year. If your time is worth $25 per hour, then you are wasting time worth $35,000 per year. Over a 50-year period, that is $1.8 million dollars, not counting interest or any increase in the value of your time as you develop. Describe what your leisure life would be like, if it was set up to be genuinely productive and enjoyable. Think and write for at least two minutes, then move on.

My leisure time would consist of piano, hanging out with friends and family, dancing, social gatherings, cooking, and biking or riding around in the neighborhood. I would love to use my free time to improve my cooking skills, piano playing, or any skill that I enjoy doing: drawing, painting, film-making, writing, reading, editing, etc.

Swimming would be meaningful as well and also I would love to try surfing since I am in California.

1.6. Your Family Life in the Future

Take a moment to consider your home and family life. Peaceful, harmonious family life provides people with a sense of belonging, support for their ambitions, and reciprocal purpose. Describe what your ideal family would be like. You can write about your parents and siblings, or about your plans for your own partner, or about your children, if any — or about all of these. What kind of partner would be good for you? How could you improve your relationship with your parents or siblings? Think and write for at least two minutes, then move on.

My ideal family life will be a family who supports my visions and dreams no matter how big or grand they may seem because they believe and trust in me. My relationship with my mom and dad will be so connecting and rewarding; they will know what is going on in their lives and so will I. My partner will be supportive and energetic; we will have a divine connection with our souls and our hearts will be aligned. I will support her vision and she will support mine. As for my baby sister, she’ll be grown up now and I want to be there for her, show her how a man is supposed to treat her and give her the respect that she needs to then in the future be in her intimate relationships.

1.7. Your Career in the Future

Much of what people find engaging in life is related to their careers. A good career provides security, status, interest, and the possibility of contributing to the community. Take a moment to consider your school or work careers, or both. Where do you want to be in six months? Two years? Five years? Why? What are you trying to accomplish? Think and write for at least two minutes, then move on.

My school career will be less than a decade long. I want to graduate university without any debt and if I’m not in a position to do that then it’s not worth it to go to university. Also, I want to expand my consciousness and field of expertise on a variety of subjects such as film-making, music, wisdom, self-improvement, and language/history by reading the most magnificent books.

My work career will be a fulfilling career that pays well and provides for my family’s needs. I would love to have at least a $100k income per year; that would be bad ass. Perhaps, it will be something that relates to digital media or to academic ventures. It could also be relating to travel or entrepreneurship.

1.8. Qualities You Admire

People you automatically admire have qualities that you would like to possess or imitate. Identifying those qualities can help you determine who it is that you want to be. Take a moment to think about the two or three people you most admire. Who are they? Which qualities do they possess that you wish you had? Think and write for at least two minutes, then move on.

I admire the boys from Yes Theory, Jordan B. Peterson, Jay Shetty, Prince Ea, Dalai Lama, and Elon Musk because they have legendary abilities and self-awareness to do amazing things with their skills and talents. Yes Theory has an amazing lifestyle but it wasn’t without the challenges accompanied with the journey also of course. Jordan B. Peterson can articulate his arguments and truthful conversations well and I respect his competence. Jay Shetty has inner peace and a beautiful philosophy about life while still being rooted in reality. Prince Ea has incredible, positive, exuding energy that inspires and uplifts. Elon Musk and Dalai Lama both contribute to society in unprecedented ways that have a huge impact.

The Ideal Future: Complete Summary

Now you have written briefly about your future, and have had some time to consider more specific issues. This step gives you the chance to integrate all the things that you have just thought and wrote about. Close your eyes. Daydream, if you can, and imagine your ideal future: -Who do you want to be? -What do you want to do? -Where do you want to end up? -Why do you want these things? -How do you plan to achieve your goals? -When will you put your plans into action? -Write about the ideal future that you have just imagined for 15 minutes. **Write continuously and try not to stop while you are writing. Don’t worry about spelling or grammar. You will have an opportunity to fix your mistakes later. Dream while you write, and don’t stop. Write at least until the 15 minutes have passed. Be ambitious. Imagine a life that you would regard as honorable, exciting, productive, creative and decent. Remember, you are writing only for yourself. Choose goals that you want to pursue for your own private reasons, not because someone else thinks that those goals are important. You don’t want to live someone else’s life. Include your deepest thoughts and feelings about all your personal goals.

My ideal future 5 or even 10 years from now is gonna be awesome.

Who do I want to be? I want to be a man that people can depend on. I want to be the very representation of honor and passion. I love what the guys at Yes Theory do and I want to be like that; men who are willing to seek discomfort to create more opportunities and to make life more exciting. I also want to participate in meaningful work and I want to be the light in my community and in the world.

I want to create meaningful work and share it with people. What do I want to do? I want a fulfilling career that connects me with opportunity. It will give me a chance to grow and to meet new amazing people. This is not going to be boring work, in fact, this work is going to be ever changing and ever evolving which will force my to expand my area of expertise. It’s going to be amazing. This career could be film-making (please I want this), travel, coaching or anything revolving digital media. You know what?! Entrepreneurship, and even building businesses are also awesome and fulfilling.

My hobbies are going to be mainly in the creative space but I’d love to branch out as well. My hobbies can include dancing, piano, music, love-making, surfing, guitar, cooking and who knows what else? Maybe even a little bit of salsa in there too.

Where do I want to end up? Well, I want to develop and grow my character. I also want to work on many important skills such as music, film-making, drawing, martial arts and other meaningful areas. I want to be able to travel the world and visit interesting new places that will stretch my imagination and my field of view for the world. I want to interact with beautiful new and exiting cultures! It would be amazing if I had my own house in which it has an amazing backyard that would be great to bring people together. I want my house to represent my essence of authentic being and to be as useful as possible.

I want to achieve these things because this is the lifestyle that I want. I desire to be free and to live life on my own terms with my own group of friends that I’ve chosen. I want to help other people become the best version of themselves and I want to make a dent in this universe for the better. I want to travel the world and experience new cultures so I can see how alike and similar but different we all are. I want to grow my YouTube channel and turn it into a platform that is dedicated on sharing a message. I want it to be a movement; not political, nor societal, but a individual movement. My YouTube channel would be run by my closest group of friends and I work with them everyday, for the most part. This channel that we all collectively contribute and grow together would eventually reach more than 1.5 million subscribers with fans from all over the world. Its Instagram following would be at 500,000 or more and its Facebook Page would reach over 1 million likes. I want to live my dream and share my passion.

I want to develop self-control and discipline just like Captain America, what a bad ass. I want to create and grow my relationships with my family, friends, partner, and with myself. I want my family to be supportive and willing to give me feedback and to tell me the truth about ANYTHING! My friends will be family and my partner will be the most supportive person in the universe. She’ll be attractive and beautiful. And I’m not just talking about outer beauty, although that’s a bonus, inner beauty and heart is more important; that’s rare. A caring and compassionate heart who is willing to grow and expand throughout her life. She is an independent person and so am I but we share a part of our lives together helping and accepting each other in an never ending process of growth, love, and friendship.

I will put my plans into action through the small daily things that I do in my life. Eventually, these habits will snowball and create a ripple. I will create weekly goals, monthly goals, and long-term goals that can stretch from a year to several years.

Morning Ritual (Daily):

• Wake Up at 5:00
• Drink Tea
• Morning Reflection (Journal)
• Walk Lucky
• Meditate 5–20 mins
• Cook and Eat Breakfast

Night Ritual (Daily):

• Brush Tea
• Prepare alarms
• Prepare Tea and Honey
• Put out Journal
• Put out clothes
• Put out school/work supplies

Weekly Goals

Monthly Goals

Yearly Goals

Every Sunday, I will plan out my weekly goals and revise my monthly/yearly goals. I will also plan out anything I need or want to do in that week.

A Future to Avoid: Complete Summary

You have now written about the future you would like to have. Clearly defining your future can help reduce the uncertainty in your life, and reduce the amount of negative emotion that you chronically experience, in consequence. This is good for your confidence and for your health. Having well-defined goals also increases your chances of experiencing positive emotion, as people experience most of their hope and joy and curiosity and engagement as a consequence of pursuing valued goals (and not, as people generally think, by attaining them). It can also be very useful to deeply imagine the future you would like to avoid. You probably know people who have made very bad decisions, and who end up with a life that nobody would want. You also likely have weaknesses yourself. If you let those get out of control, then you might also end up with a miserable, painful life. Most people know how their life could go downhill if they let it. Spend some time, now, thinking about what your life would be like if you failed to define or pursue your goals, if you let your bad habits get out of control, and if you ended up miserable, resentful and bitter. Imagine your life three to five years down the road, if you failed to stay on the path you know you should be on. Use your imagination. Draw on your knowledge of the anxiety and pain you have experienced in the path, when you have betrayed yourself. Think about the people you know who have made bad decisions or remained indecisive, or who chronically deceive themselves or other people, or who let cynicism and anger dominate their lives. Where do you not want to be? Dream while you write, and don’t stop. Write at least until the 15 minutes have passed. Let yourself form a very clear picture of the undesirable future.

Most people know what hell looks like, and if you don’t then you either haven’t lived that long, are ignorant, or are blind to the world around you.

This is my version of hell.

In this version, I would be addicted to pornography and watching it at all would be devastating enough; it creates a distorted view of sexual reality and relationships with women. I would also be nihilistic and depressed at my purpose in life. Due to this lack of purpose, I would be more prone to be addicted to substances such as alcohol, cocaine, heroine, and the list goes on. In order to avoid this hell, I must avoid all drugs at any cost and the best way to do this is to have a meaningful, well defined purpose in life.

My relationships would also be bad. I would be lonely and my family would be in shambles. I might also be unproductive and lazy and unhealthy. It would be tragic if I had a life-threatening disease that was the result of my own doing such as my unhealthy eating habits or exercise habits.

My only job would be a soul-crushing 9–5 and being in financial debt due to student loans or other loans would be a disaster, so avoid that too at all costs. I would be weak, puny, and defenseless. My position is life would be one of stagnation and of little growth or experience; everyday would be boring and sad. I’ve seen anger and resentment consume the people that decided to nurture it. I would be undisciplined, lazy, resentful, bitter, angry, depressed and all sorts of negative emotion.

I would also hurt other people maybe to the point where I would be in jail for my wrong-doings. There’s no doubt that my anger, if left uncontrolled, will hurt so many of my loved ones. My career and YouTube channel will have all died and the future will look hopelessly bleak. To make matters worse, I’m homeless and undesirable for any sort of relationship. I would be naked in the streets and unmotivated.

My values and principles would’ve faded and there would be no honor or virtue left in my soul due to my careless or reckless actions. My habits would be primarily bad and there would seem to be no productive energy left in me. I’d be lonely and bitter about life with no dream coming into reality or into my imagination.

My spirit would’ve died long before my actual death. There would be no growth or life.

Stage 1: The Ideal Future: Preliminary Notes and Thoughts has been completed

Congratulations! You have now realized a vision of your ideal future, and outlined a future that is best avoided. You can use the summary of this vision to help you complete Stage 2 of the Ideal Future planning process.

Stage 2: Specific Goal Identification: Introduction

In this stage, you will first be asked to define and personally title your overall future plan. Then, you will be asked to take your general plans for the ideal future and break them up into more specific goals. Each of these separate goals will also be given its own title. This step will help you clarify your goals.

Please specify a title and brief description for your ideal future as a whole. This can be as simple as “My Ideal Future,” in both fields, or, if you have something more personal in mind, you can specify that. Imagine that you are both specifying and summarizing your ambitions with this title. This will help you remember what you are aiming for. In later screens you can define, prioritize, and analyze specific goals.

Goal Title: The Purposeful Life. Goal Description: The life of courage, honor, truth, and purpose.

Please break down your ideal future into 8 goals. You can re-word, re-write and organize the relevant material from Step 1 for your goal summaries, if you wish, or you can rely on your memory. The exercise allows you to specify a minimum of 6 goals, but people who identify 8 have better results with this exercise. These specific goals can be from a number of different domains. -A personal goal might be “I would like to be healthier.” -A career goal might be “I would like to be more interested in my job” -A social goal might be “I would like to meet more people”. The summaries you write about each goal should be reasonably brief and memorable. Make sure that each goal summary includes nothing but the most important information. You will have 10–15 minutes for this part of the exercise. Feel free to revise and edit.

1) Be more assertive and truthful

• Speak up for what you believe in, stand up for yourself, choose choices that are in your own best self interests, speak the truth, don’t lie, speak your truths.

2) Create morning/daily habits

• Morning rituals, habits throughout the day to keep yourself grounded and in control of your mood and actions. Daily times of self-reflection and silence. Also, daily habits and practices to increase your competence at certain skills such as piano, guitar, martial arts, or video editing.

3) Seek Discomfort

• Face your fears, go through new and beautiful experiences that truly make you feel alive. Confront fear.

4) Improve Your Family

• Put your family in order before you go out there and change the world. Start with the small, but important stuff.

5) Grow Relationships

• Improve and grow your relationships with friends, family and intimate partner for long-lasting fulfillment.

6) Financial Abundance

• Have financial abundance to have freedom and stability in your life + contentedness.

7) YouTube = 1 Million Subs

• Grow your YouTube channel and make a new project to work on. Develop your skills and contribute to the highest meaning possible. Also, start a business and grow it to be a powerhouse changing the world.

8) Be Healthy

• Love yourself by feeding yourself right and also exercise.

2.3. Prioritizing Your Goals

Please organize your goals. Give your most important goal a rank of 1, your next most important goal a rank of 2, and so on. You can use the update button at any time to to re-order the list.

1) Be more assertive and truthful

2) Create morning/daily habits

3) Improve Your Family

4) Grow Relationships

5) Be Healthy

6) Seek Discomfort

7) YouTube = 1 Million Subs

8) Financial Abundance

2.4. Strategizing About Your Goals

Now you will be asked about the following elements or feature for each of the specific goals you have identified: Evaluating Your Motives -Considering the Broad Personal and Social Impact of Goals -Considering the Detailed Strategies for Goal Attainment -Identifying Potential Obstacles and their Solutions -Monitoring Progress towards Desired Goals Thus, the five pages that contain these elements or features will repeat until all your goals have been assessed.

[This section asks questions about each your goals (1–8) in the order you decided on in 2.3. Answer questions 2.4.1–2.4.5 for goal 1, then repeat for each goal]

2.4.1. Evaluating Your Motives

For this goal, you might want to consider issues such as the following: -Do you truly believe that pursuing this goal is important? -Would you feel ashamed, guilty or anxious if you didn’t? -Do you want to achieve this goal personally, or are you doing it to please someone else? (It is often a good thing to do something for someone else, but you should know when you are doing that.) -Are you pursuing this goal because the situation that you find yourself in in seems to demand it? -Is the pursuit of this goal enjoyable, stimulating or satisfying? -Is this goal part of a deeply felt personal dream? Please spend a minute or two writing down your reasons for pursuing this goal:

1) Be more assertive and truthful

• I am pursuing this goal for myself because I want to be stronger in my words and in my values. Also, I don’t want to be pushed around by other people just because I am not confident or assertive.

2) Create morning/daily habits

• I want to have the best start on the day and develop some of my skills to improve the quality of my life. I am doing this for myself because I must take care of myself spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Spending some time in the morning can be a good self-reflection.

3) Improve Your Family

• I am doing this for myself and for my family because I don’t want to see them suffering and unhappy most of the time. Life can be so much more fulfilling and better if I improve my family. Also, I can’t change the world if my family isn’t in order first so start small baby.

4) Grow Relationships

• I want to do this for myself and for others. Think about the impact that it could have on my life if I developed long-lasting, trustworthy, and authentic relationships with people that I love and care for the most. My relationships will be amazing and real. These people will care for me in the highs and the lows of life; so will I.

5) Be Healthy

• I am doing this for myself because I want to be healthy and badass in all aspects. I can’t become the best version of myself and create my dream life without caring for this vehicle that I have been so beautifully grateful to have been given. Health is wealth: diet, discipline, and workouts.

6) Seek Discomfort

• I am doing this for myself because in order to do things that I want, I have to do things that I’ve never done before. I look at the guys at Yes Theory and they’ve worked incredibly hard for their business and life. However, when opportunity came their way, they were wise enough to take it. I want my life to be like that and I must seek discomfort.

7) YouTube = 1 Million Subs

• I am doing this for myself and for others because life is not slavery. I don’t want to be working for someone else’s dream. I want to develop mine and improve the world while progressing humanity.

8) Financial Abundance

• I am mainly doing this for myself and for others because financial abundance will give me freedom to live life and to pursue what my purpose is calling me towards. Money = Energy.

2.4.2. Considering the Broad Personal and Social Impact of Goals

Goals can have an impact beyond the obvious. Our specific personal goals are connected to larger, more important life goals. These higher-order goals reflect our most important ideals. The specific goal of spending more time studying or reading, for example, is a specific element of the more important goal of being a well-educated person. Achieving other specific goals, such as becoming more assertive, help us to move closer to our ideal self.

You will now be asked to write about what more globally important things might be affected by your attainment the goal listed below:-How would disciplined success change the way that you see yourself? -How would other parts of your personal life change, in consequence? -How would this affect the way that others perceive you? (You might also consider fears of being successful. Sometimes people are afraid to succeed because of the responsibility this would entail. Sometimes they are afraid of even becoming conscious of their true goals, because then they would be aware when they fail. These are not good strategies.) -How would attaining this goal affect the lives of the people around you? -What broader beneficial social impact might your success have? Please write a short description of how attaining this goal would change additional important aspects of your life, and the lives of others.

1) Be more assertive and truthful

• How would this goal affect me? If I completed this goal then my life would be more authentic and fulfilling. Fake friends would also disappear and only the real people who actually love would stay or come. I am scared of doing this because people might attack or criticize me for being too “stand-off-ish.” Man, fuck these people. They don’t want you to do something because they can’t do something.
• Also, since I have more self-respect for myself, I’ll look at people in a more realistic and authentic manner.

2) Create morning/daily habits

• This goal would make my days have a solid routine which would give me the platform to bounce off and attack the world so to speak. This would also improve my happiness levels and this can spread to other people as well. My habits would lead to a better, healthier Tommy Bo.

3) Improve Your Family

• If my family improved then I can finally stop worrying about their well being which would give me the support to go and make my dreams a reality, roughly speaking. With my family being in order, this can radiate out to my cousins in Vietnam and my uncles/aunts.

4) Grow Relationships

• Life would be more fulfilling and beautiful. Developing relationships would give life so much more depth and abundance. By doing this, I can see the diverse backgrounds of people and I can have people who I can depend on and also they can depend on me. Life would reveal a new and exciting chapter. People are the destinations and serendipity leads the way.

5) Be Healthy

• By being healthy, my lifestyle would give me the boost to achieve my dream life and to grow into a more badass human being. My lifestyle could also inspire others to change theirs since they would see the impact it has on people.

6) Seek Discomfort

• By seeking discomfort, I would develop a special kind of resilience to rejection and social pressure. My wisdom would increase and so would the quality of my life. Life would be so much more dynamic and special to me and others as a whole. Seeking discomfort places the new into being alive and you get to do more things. Seeking discomfort = freedom.

7) YouTube = 1 Million Subs

• Becoming my own boss would give me so much more freedom and abundance. My family could also follow my example and be inspired to live their dream. I could also help them and the journey would be so more beautiful. Paths would be traveled, doors would be unlocked and dreams would be discovered.

8) Financial Abundance

• I’m starting to realize that a lot of these outcomes are more freedom and this is the exact same thing. Financial abundace would give the freedom to pursue what I believe is meaningful. I can fund companies, give my family freedom to do things they want. I can increase our level of happiness and see what the world has to offer. I can travel the world with my girlfriend or wife even. Life would be so much more free.

2.4.3. Considering the Detailed Strategies for Goal Attainment

Goals are related to lesser, smaller sub-goals and behaviors, as well as connected to higher-order, more important abstract goals. Sub-goals are easier to achieve, but are still fundamental to reaching our greater aspirations. Sub-goals can thus be thought of as strategies for greater goal achievement. Thinking about what specific things need to be done in order to achieve your goals allows you to create practical strategies for realizing your dreams. Please take some time to write about the concrete daily or weekly things you might do to further your goal. Deeply consider what particular behaviors this goal is built upon. -Should you spend more time planning at school or at work? -Do you need to spend more time with your friends, or your children? -Do you need to discuss household chores with your roommates, partner or spouse? -Specify when you are going to work on your goal. Specify how often. Specify where. Think hard about how you are going to implement your plans. Make your plans concrete. Write down those concrete weekly or daily things you might do to further this goal.

1) Be more assertive and truthful

To be more confident and assertive, I will take Karate and develop my skills to the point, and beyond, to where I don’t feel insecure or weak.

Daily:

I keep track and feel my way towards not lying and telling the truth. I will keep a mental note of the times I was not assertive or truthful. I will speak my mind and if I don’t want to do something, I’ll say no assertively and confidently revealing that I will not change my position.

I will do this whenever I’m in a social situation such as school, or work.

Weekly:

I will plan out my week and review my plans for the month, and year. Doing this will allow me to regain direction and continue to move towards a goal that I desire and want. This will give me purpose and meaning because I will be plotting out my life which will deliberately plan my actions.

Home or quiet area,

Monthly:

Throughout the month, I will track my progress and ask myself, “Am I living a life that is true and authentic to me personally?”

Home or focusing place.

2) Create morning/daily habits

Daily:

Every morning, I will check off my habits on my smartphone app to see if I completed it. I will also review my habits that I’m doing daily.

Weekly:

Every week, I’ll look at my progress and streaks to determine if anything needs to changed. I might also add new habits to the app or to my calendar.

Monthly:

Every month, I will undertake a new challenge that adds or subtracts a habit. This will increase the quality of my life. I will also look at how I did in that challenge at the end of the month.

3) Improve Your Family

Daily:

In order to improve my family, I need to take care of myself first by doing the first two habits that I listed above.

I need to listen and address the concerns or problems of the family. I also need to take care of the house by sweeping or cleaning up the dishes. I also want to take care and watch Angelina for a bit (1 hour) so that Grandma can take a break. I need to talk and communicate my issues, wants, plans, and concerns with my family.

Weekly:

I will do a weekly reflection and see the progress that I made, do it in journal or ever-note. Also, I will make plans to solve the problems or issues concerning my family.

Monthly:

I want to go to someplace new or exciting every week/month. It’d be awesome to take a family trip somewhere once in a while. I will reflect on the issues that I’ve solved and see what lies next for our family’s progress. reflection basically.

4) Grow Relationships

Daily:

Everyday, I will spend some time with my family members and help them with their business. I will talk and keep tabs open with people I care about. This can happen anywhere and at anytime.

Weekly:

I will reflect on the people that I can spend time more such as my family, friends, or partner. I will also make plans with them to spend time in the week. Weekly, I will call a family member or old friend to reconnect and ask them how they’re doing.

Monthly:

I’ll go on an exciting adventure with one of my friends or family. It must be new, exciting, and wanted but not too predictable. It also must increase the closeness of y’all.

5) Be Healthy

Daily:

Drink more water.

I will be conscious and record what I ate in that day. I will also be mindful of my energy after eating certain foods. Don’t allow myself to go in a place or situation where many unhealthy decisions can be made such as a store of candy, bar, or other place. Don’t allow yourself to get too hungry where you’ll eat anything as an option.

Workout every morning.

Weekly:

I will prepare meals for the following week on the weekends and make a meal plan. I will also record how much weight I have. I will also learn to cook something new.

Monthly:

Adopt a new diet

Look at habits

Look at food options and weight

reflect and shop for food

6) Seek Discomfort

Daily:

I will track the time I did something uncomfortable, something new, something badass. I will strive to grab those opportunities.

Weekly:

Every week, I will undertake a new challenge, much like Yes Theory, to get myself seeking some discomfort alone or with friends. I will go out there and make a YT video in the process. Also, self reflection to see what new thing I did.

Monthly:

Go on a big seek discomfort, work on skills, and reflect on the month. Also, feel free to plan events.

7) YouTube = 1 Million Subs

Daily:

I will record what ideas I can turn into videos and plan them accordingly. I might also film some content depending on my plans and schedule.

Weekly:

I will plan for the next week and plan the videos that I’m going to upload/edit/create. Put this on my calendar and on an evernote sheet.

Monthly:

I will monitor and track my progress on my YT channel. For example, take a look at the views, watch time, traffic sources or the comments/likes. Make sure NOT to tie the numbers to your self worth because that is a recipe for disaster. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

8) Financial Abundance

Daily:

I will record the money that I’ve spent that day and see how much money I made also. Be conscious of your spending habits.

Weekly:

Make a plan to create and attract more wealth. Also, learn more about money and business.

Monthly:

Reflect on your month and see what needs to be improved. Love yourself and the process. Also, make sure to create a budget for yourself and for your family each month and see what was achieved. Maybe invest in stocks.

2.4.4. Identifying Potential Obstacles and their Solutions

Thinking about achieving a goal is obviously easier than going out and getting it done. Many things related to the natural environment, the social group and the self can stand in your way. It is useful to anticipate these difficulties, so that you can plan to overcome them. Consider your goal, once again. Write down all the potential obstacles you can think up. Write down ways to overcome these obstacles. How might you interfere with your own plans? How can you ensure this won’t happen? Sometimes change is threatening to people we know and love. Will the people you know help you, or interfere? How can you communicate with them, so that they will support you? Think of realistic and worst-case scenarios. What are your options? What are your alternative plans? Write down potential obstacles to this goal, and specify the ways you might overcome them.

1) Be more assertive and truthful ⚔

• My friends might will dislike my new or revealed authentic self.
• I will overcome this by making new friends that will support me on my journey of self-discovery and badassery. I will connect to more people using outlets such as social events or club events like Kiwanis.
• I might lean towards being a bit aggressive when practicing being more assertive
• Whenever I sense that I am being a bit too aggressive or mean, then I will adjust my attitude to become more assertive.

2) Create morning/daily habits

• I might face laziness and lethargic moods.
• I will counter this by reminding myself of the heroic quest that I have embarked upon.
• I must wake up to conquer the day and to acquire my first victory of the day

3) Improve Your Family

• My family might criticize me for the things that I’m doing wrong
• I will put my ego aside and take their advice into account.
• If I find them to be useful and true, then I will listen and apply them to become a better person for my family.

4) Grow Relationships

• I might have trouble creating new relationships or communicating plans
• Engage in more social situations and be more spontaneous
• Call old friends once in a while

5) Be Healthy

• Tempted to eat unhealthy foods
• Throw away and don’t engage in eating unhealthy foods
• Eat healthy foods and be full to avoid unhealthy food cravings
• BAD = soft drinks, hamburgers, any fast food, fried food
• Lack of ingredients or healthy recipes
• Every week learn new recipes and make a grocery list for such ingredients.
• Make a list of new recipes and download apps to find them or watch cooking tutorials.

6) Seek Discomfort

• Lazy to seek discomfort or might be unwilling to
• Find an interesting and have the self-discipline to engage in a new, exciting activity every week

7) YouTube = 1 Million Subs

• Lack of inspiration to make videos
• Create a video ideas list and have some ready to make.
• When stuck in routine, seek discomfort to gain inspiration
• Might be inconsistent in making videos
• Be ahead and plan videos for the future.
• Schedule uploads and be ahead at least for 3 weeks (3 videos).
• Might procrastinate on video projects
• Plan ahead and set deadlines for video projects.
• Use Google Calendar.

8) Financial Abundance

• Might spend money carelessly
• Create a budget and have less money in your wallet
• No money
• Create a plan to make money and find ways to do so.

2.4.5. Monitoring Progress towards Desired Goals

We need to know, concretely, whether or not we are progressing towards the attainment of valued goals. Of course, this is not an easy task. When we want to complete very specific tasks, feedback on our performance is relatively easy to monitor. However, if our goals are less short-term, this becomes a little more difficult.You are now being asked to identify personal benchmarks that will allow you to evaluate your own performance.-When would you like to achieve this goal? Be specific. Even if you have to revise a deadline later, it is still better to set one.-What sorts of things will you accept as evidence that you are progressing towards your stated goal?-How often are you going to monitor your own behavior?-How will things in your life have to change, measurably, for you to feel satisfied in your progress?-How can you ensure that you are neither pushing yourself too hard, and ensuring failure, or being too easy on yourself, and risking boredom and cynicism?-Your benchmarks should be personal indicators of success. It doesn’t matter what others may think defines progress towards your goal. Write down those accomplishments would truly indicate positive movement on your part. Feel free to write as much as you feel is necessary.Write down how you might monitor your progress with regards to this goal.

1) Be more assertive and truthful

• I will monitor this goal by doing a self-analysis at the end of the day by writing down what I accomplished in that day in regards to my goals and assertiveness. I will also feel my way towards being more assertive and truthful as it will feel right whenever I tell the truth or act in my own self-interests and make more bold decisions.
• I will also take an assertive test once a week to track my progress or a personality test.

2) Create morning/daily habits

• I will review my habit scores and streaks once a week and see where I need to make improvements. I will also list the habits that I desire to include in my life and will make a plan to add habits every month.
• I will keep a journal to record any victories or failures in habit building.

3) Improve Your Family

• Journal from time to time about any problems, victories, and accomplishments that my family has.
• Improving my family will mean that they are more positive, inspired, happy, motivated and I’ll be more useful and more productive with any family matters. I’ll make my self of use and be there for when my family needs me. This is also something that I can feel when it is getting better.

4) Grow Relationships

• Once a week, or at least once a month, call someone that you haven’t talked to in a LONG time such as an old friend, teacher, or family member. Actually, call anyone that you desire a good relationship with.
• You will feel your relationships being more meaningful, compassionate, and filled with more love and joy. Your relationships will be a joy to everyone around you. Journal your accomplishments and be badass.

5) Be Healthy

• This will be another challenge that happens every month. Track your weight, and also track when you are sick or unhealthy. DON’T BE SICK, DON’T EVER BE SICK.
• Journal what you ate in that day and exercise every morning. Track your progress with a habit tracker or a nutrition app.
• You can also feel when you are in a state great health.

6) Seek Discomfort

• Seek Discomfort every day, in a small way at least. Track your progress by writing down new things that you did and also you can feel if your life is boring or if your life needs more spontaneity.
• Use a habit app and a journal to track progress.

7) YouTube = 1 Million Subs

• Make a YouTube plan for every week, month, and year. Also, set micro goals such as 1,000 subscribers and so on. Set deadlines for these goals as well.
• View analytics to determine if the trajectory is positive.
• Ask yourself if the content that you are making is positively impacting people and the world around you. Also, ask yourself if your content is pushing the limits of your competence and of what is possible of you. Stretch yourself, expand your domain of competence.

8) Financial Abundance

• Use a habit tracking app to see how much money you have in every week.
• Use a budget tracking app to see how much money you have spent and also create a budget and at the end of every week, month, and year, review how well you executed on that budget.
• Create savings goals and set deadlines for those goals as well. Make a bank account dedicated to some personal goal.

2.5. Future Steps

People often worry themselves unproductively by constantly revisiting their goals, instead of concentrating on their attainment. It is easy to undermine yourself, by always questioning your aims and intentions. Am I doing the right thing? Have I chosen the correct goals? This leads to chronic worry, unproductive behavior, and lack of opportunity to learn.

-Now that you have set goals, it is best to concentrate on a daily or weekly basis on implementing the strategies you have devised for their attainment, instead of worrying about the goals themselves. It is just as important to stick to a plan, as it is to make a plan.

-If you implement your goals, even if they are not perfect, you will learn enough during the implementation phase to make better goals next time. As you continue to repeat the process, you will get wiser and wiser.

-Set aside some time every week or two — no more than ten or twenty minutes — to mentally review your performance. You will gather all sorts of useful information that you can use to reconsider your plans, down the road. Researchers have found that if someone performs goal — setting tasks multiple times over a long period, there is a greater chance of health and productivity improvements. As a result, you might wish to engage in this sort of exercise on a regular basis, every four, six, or twelve months, as your situation changes.

Your Ideal Future Below is a copy of your Ideal Future including the essays you wrote during Stage 1 and the goal setting and analysis you performed during Stage 2. [This is another printable page, with every single question as a header, and what you wrote as an answer]

Project Complete

You have completed the Future Authoring project. Thank you.