I accept that my future is unknowable.

Chapter 01 — Introduction

🟤 Rico:

So, I’m the younger version of you, and we’re gonna have a dialogue to share our perspectives, but how is it possible for us have different perspective, when we are, in essence, the same being?

⚪️ Mr. Lico:

It’s true, I have hold onto the same beliefs with you until a certain period of my life, and then I unlearn and relearn them with the new ones.

Our future self will likely do the same, evolving beyond our current perspectives, and he might not share the same view with us.

We’ve documented these journey in our journal, but sometimes, we forget.

That’s why I have an idea to make a documentation about our learn-unlearn-relearn process here, and hopefully, some people will resonate with our journey.

🟤 Rico:

I see, it’s interesting to know that we are constantly changing. So, you’ll become the younger version of Rico in the future journal, right?

⚪️ Mr. Lico:

Yes, I will. But I can’t predict how that future journal will look like. In fact, our conversation today revolves around it; accepting that our future is unknowable.

—

Chapter 02 — Do you give up on your future?

🟤 Rico:

Alright, so you argue that our future is unknowable.
Does that mean you give up on planning and working towards it?

I grew up being told that we should fight for our future no matter what. In school, I was constantly questioned about my future plan, if I don’t have one, I will become a failure. So everyone works hard for it.

⚪️ Mr. Lico:

Accepting that our future is unknowable doesn’t mean we give up on it.
In fact, it gives our future-self more freedom to define his life.

🟤 Rico:

What does it mean? I believe I should define my own future. I set goals and clear path towards them.

Your words indicate that I am now and I am in the future is different being.

⚪️ Mr. Lico:

Indeed, we will be a different person in the future.

Remember when we were 12 years old, rising before dawn to jog and practicing volleyball skills against a wall? We’d sleep with the ball, while practicing tossing technique, listening to inspiring music that fueled our dream of becoming a volleyball athlete.

We often returned home late, sacrificing sleep to watch our favorite volleyball team on TV.

Six years later, it vanished when we got into uni and took an art major, and we don’t sleep with the ball anymore, but with the paper and ink because I draw and paint daily. We never play nor watch volleyball.

If 12-year-old version of us knows about this, it might seem like a betrayal to him.

🟤 Rico:

Well, it’s your fault for changing your mind.

⚪️ Mr. Lico:

That’s the point. Being rigid in defining our future self can make us view changing our mind as a sin.

Many narratives voicing that you need to being rigid toward your future. It means you are a determined person.

This is not all wrong, but living with that worldview will make you unfamiliar with uncertainties.

🟤 Rico:

Unfamiliar with uncertainties?

⚪️ Mr. Lico:

Let’s say someone defines their future as working in a specific profession and they work hard toward it.

But what if in the future, that profession is replaced by robots or there are circumstances that make that profession no longer exist?

🟤 Rico:

Umm, that’s a significant point.

⚪️ Mr. Lico:

We often envision a changing world. But rarely thing how it impacts our future-self.

With that changing world, of course we will have different perspectives, views, and preferences in the future.

🟤 Rico:

So we are constantly become a new person?

⚪️ Mr. Lico:

That’s true, we tend to think that who we are right now is the “finished” version of ourselves, and our future self will be basically the same as who we are today. But it’s simply wrong.

Having this belief in mind actually limits your future-self.

—

Chapter 03 — Are we limiting our future self?

🟤 Rico:

What do you mean by limiting our future-self?

⚪️ Mr. Lico:

We often pass the labels we put onto our present-self to our future-self. These labels shape specific beliefs and constrain their choices.

For example, if I label myself as ‘introverted’ or ‘not good at writing,’ and I perceive myself as unchanging, I might discourage my future self from social interactions or pursuing a writing career.

So acknowledging that we are constantly becoming a new person gives us belief that we have the ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn.

—

Chapter 04 — What can we do for our future self?

🟤 Rico:

I’m starting to get your point of view.

But we can’t just be indifferent about our future, right? Can we use the excuse of ‘our future is unknowable’ as a reason to do nothing?

⚪️ Mr. Lico:

Hahaha, when I first encountered this worldview, I had the same question

It’s important to know our task for our future self.

Instead of defining the beliefs that our future should have, our task is to expand our horizons in the present, so he will have a broader collection of experiences, knowledge, and wisdom.

Our task is to stay curious and be brave to try something unusual and unfamiliar to us.

This writing, in fact, is my attempt to embrace this concept.

I often forget the insights I gain from reading and writing. They inspire me briefly, but within a week, I return to my regular routine and forget the inspiration.

This is why I’ve chosen to transform these inspirations into imaginary conversations with my younger self.

🟤 Rico:

You’re right, actually I always ask myself, ‘how will my future self look in 20 or 30 years from now?’ and tried to define it based on my current, limited knowledge and wisdom.

I even put a timeline for it, like; I need to have this in my 20s, and I need to become this in my 30s.

Now, I realize that this approach indirectly limiting my beliefs.

I have something that I’m incapable of right now, but it doesn’t mean my future self won’t have the capability of it.

⚪️ Mr. Lico:

Indeed, by acknowledging that we don’t know our future self yet, we broaden our belief in our potential to accomplish anything, and it means you send a huge trust to a new you in the future.

Remember that it’s good to have a goal, but it’s not a sin if you change your mind.

🟤 Rico:

I’ve also neglected to consider uncertainties. What if the world changes, and what I aspire to for my future no longer exists? This realization has humbled me.

⚪️ Mr. Lico:

I used to be like you, rigidly define my future.

I planned every single step towards it, believing it as a gift for my future self.

Turns out, stay curious, becoming friends with uncertainties, and being brave to try something new, is the best gift for my future self.

—

“This journal is inspired by TED Talks by Dr. Shankar Vedantam’s ‘You don’t actually know what your future self wants,’ and TED Talks by Dr. Dan Gilbert’s ‘The psychology of your future self.’”