Chapter 27 The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades

Whether you’re 28, 38, 48, or somewhere in between, it’s time to start looking at your life as if the best years are yet to come, for indeed they can be coming. Sure, you’ll get a little slower with each advancing year, but you have the ability to put together all that you’ve learned in each decade (this is sometimes referred to as wisdom). Perhaps you’ll be even more prudent with your time. More than 100 years ago, in his essay “The Feeling of Immortality and Youth,” British essayist William Hazlitt said, “As we advance in life, we acquire a keener sense of the value of time. Nothing else, indeed, seems of any consequence, and we become misers in this respect.” That may be true, yet as you learned in Chapter 2, “Time Flies Whether You’re Having Fun or Not,” you probably have more time left on this planet than you think.

In for the Long Haul

Regardless of your age or how much time you have left, anytime is a good one to practice measures for winning back your time. You may even find it rewarding to revel in your current age—it holds so much potential. Marlee Matlin won the Academy Award for Best Actress at age 21; the late Jessica Tandy won it at age 80. The U.S. Constitution was written by men who were, on average, 40 years of age—when the life expectancy was barely 40. Sure, there were some old-timers like Ben Franklin, but most of the founding fathers were young by today’s standards.

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 A Stitch in Time The key to accepting your age and your life is to realize that people shift into high gear at different times. It’s hard to predict who’s going to take off when.

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James Michener didn’t write his first novel until age 42. He produced one best-seller after another until his death at age 90. As I hit the big four-oh, I started to feel a little uncomfortable about the passing time in my life. Now, at nearly 50, for some reason I feel more at ease about how I use my time. I found it comforting to look up the birth dates of notable people who are about the same age as I am:

When Elvis was my age, he’d been dead for six years! (Unless, of course, you’ve sighted him recently. . . .) Some people take up marathon running in their 50s; some people take it up in their 60s. Become comfortable with your current age, and recognize the vast potential you have with all your remaining years. Alice Cornyn-Selby, a prolific author and speaker from Portland, Oregon, uses two powerful key phrases with her audiences:

1. “I have now come to the end of my life and I’m disappointed that I didn’t. . . .” How did you finish that sentence? Whatever came up first is probably something you want to do right away. No use putting it off any longer, because it bubbled up to the surface immediately.
2. “I have now come to the end of my life and I’m glad that I. . . .”

   What did you come up with this time? Was it the same issue that you addressed in the first statement? Was it something you’ve already accomplished? When you begin to look at the opportunities that await and those you can create, all the rushing about that came before and the times you felt you were missing your life can begin to melt away as you head in the direction that will give you deep satisfaction.

Put It in Perspective

As you’ve learned in this book, the more often you can feel complete about your accomplishments, the more energy, focus, and direction you’ll have. All things end, whether poorly or wonderfully. Whether they take a few seconds or an astronomical epoch, every event has an end. For example:

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Everything Ends

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You can use completion-thinking to get caught up with this moment, feel good about everything that’s transpired thus far, and energize yourself for what’s ahead. In The Fountain of Age, Betty Friedan closes with a remarkable paragraph:

New Goals for a New You

So, what kind of completions can you realize about your own life? What kind of goals do you want to make, given the fact that today represents a new opportunity to reclaim your life? Not like that trite old phrase, “Today’s the first day in the rest of your life,” but with a deeper realization that you can be in control.

The following is a set of new goals you might want to entertain. These aren’t ones that traditionally make achievers’ lists, but they can be important to the quality of your life.

1. Weight. What weight do you want to be at one year from now or five years from now? What size waistline do you want to have? Do you want to become as fit as you’ve been in the past? It’s possible, but it’s a choice you’ll have to make first.
2. Blood pressure. I’ll bet you never thought of this. Would you like to get your blood pressure down to 120 over 80? What foods and habits are you willing to give up to keep your blood pressure at a safe, healthy level?
3. Resting pulse per minute. How hard is your heart working for you right now? Is your resting pulse above 80? You should know that 70 beats per minute, and even 60, is quite possible. My average is 52. I know a 65-year-old who averages 42.

   Hold on—before you think the guy must be about to keel over, look at it from a physiological standpoint: His heart is working efficiently. In the course of a day, a week, or a year, it’s beating far fewer times than yours. He achieved this by ensuring that each day he takes walks that last between 15 minutes and an hour.

4. Hours of sleep nightly. You know by now the paramount importance of sleep. One year or five years from now, how much do you want to be sleeping each night? It’s up to you.
5. Healthy foods regularly consumed. You may not be able to eat the recommended three to five helpings of vegetables each day, or the two to three helpings of fruit, but you could probably add a lot more of both to your diet. You don’t have to visit a health store to eat healthfully. You need only choose fresh foods from your traditional supermarket.
6. Vitamins taken regularly. If you’re over 30, this grows in importance each day. Do you take a multivitamin? Do you take specific vitamins throughout the day to ensure peak performance? If you’re in a highly stressful position, you probably need a good B-complex vitamin. Maybe you’re not getting enough vitamin C. When’s the last time you visited a nutritionist or dietitian and figured out what supplements would be best given your lifestyle and physiology?
7. Great novels read. To make the best yet to come, you can have goals beyond simply health and fitness. What great novels would you like to read, but year after year haven’t begun? One option is that today most great novels are on cassette. Perhaps listening to them, rather than reading them, is your cup of tea. Either way, the choice—and the ability to get started—is yours. (Hint: Children love to be read to; it can be a rejuvenating treat for adults.)

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    A Stitch in Time If you want to improve the quality of your life for the rest of your life, you can start with what you take out of the video store on your next trip.

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8. Classic or inspiring movies viewed. Sure, it’s easy enough to go down to the video store and rent the latest shoot ’em up or action thriller. Instead, what about a good biographical video? Or how about a historical novel on video? What about a documentary? At any given moment, you have a lot of alternatives in terms of what you’re viewing.
9. Family involvement. Perhaps you’re already good at this, but perhaps it’s an area to revisit. Have you been to your son’s Boy Scout troop meeting lately? Have you ever watched your daughter for a full soccer practice? Have you had a real family outing—not the kind where you go to a theme park, spend money, and have hectic fun, but where you bring a picnic basket, hike together, talk to each other, and spend the day in a quiet and enjoyable way?

A Complex World and More So

As you learned in Chapter 2, “Time Flies Whether You're Having Fun or Not,” and Chapter 11, “Filing: Your Simple Salvation,” population, information, media growth, too much paper, and an over-abundance of choices all converge to make it feel as if you have never had enough time. Realistically, these challenges will accelerate in the next decade.

You can count on complexity increasing. I see three possible scenarios: (1) Few people learn how to win back their time; (2) Some people learn how to win back their time; or (3) Most people learn how to win back their time.

1. Few people learn how to win back their time. What will society look like in this scenario? In the social environment, there will continue to be high stress, constant breakdowns, perhaps neglect of children, and people walking around in an overwhelmed state. In this scenario, more catastrophes will occur: train wrecks, plane crashes, auto mishaps.

   In the business environment, you will see more stress and burnout among professionals, increasing hostility, and more people walking around in microsleep. You will also see more cluttered desks and more people constantly playing catch-up. What’s the typical individual’s response in a society where everybody is on fast-forward and no one is in control of his or her time? More “me-first” attitudes, more investment in creature comforts that don’t truly comfort, and more feelings of disenfranchisement. Not pleasant.

2. Some people win back control of their time. In the social environment, feeling overwhelmed is only intermittent. Breakdowns are seen as routine, but at least they’re not constant.

   In the business environment, management training can alleviate some problems. What is the typical, individual response to being in a world where only some people are in control of their time (much like today)? Such people will choose fewer projects, but they’ll be more important ones. People will be a little less stressed out because they’ll understand what’s going on. They’ll try to find more enjoyment in leisure and clear their weekends of work.

3. Most people win back their time. Under such a favorable scenario, there will be a strong concentration on the family. More individuals will exhibit balance and control. There will even be a further development of the social graces.

   In the business environment, people will be able to have vacations and leisure time available on request. Businesses will stay lean, but only mean to the competition. Managers, from the top CEO down to the line supervisors, will be able to display confidence and compassion. They’ll be able to respond to the requests and concerns of their employees—people will be of primary importance. Wages will actually increase. Efficiency and effectiveness will be the name of the game.

   What is the typical individual’s response to existing in an environment where most people have control of their time? A “we-first” mindset is maintained amidst a quest for personal betterment. The individual pursues cultural as well as social endeavors, keeping an astute eye on the environment.

You can prevail under any scenario. Regardless of which scenario comes to pass, your ability to win back your time is up to you.

Conscious Choices

You can make choices, of course, about any aspect of your time and life, be they issues relating to work, change, technology, success, travel, health and well-being, relationships, marriage, or parenting. Affirmation techniques can be used to help reinforce those choices and turn them into reality.

Abundant research shows that after 21 days of repeating an affirmation to yourself, notable positive change occurs. Why? Your subconscious mind accepts the statements you give it repeatedly; it can’t discern between what exists now and what you’ve chosen for your future! (Generally, the people who don’t credit the power of affirmations have never used and trusted the process.)

As with any quest to reinforce the choices you make, write or type your decisions, and post them or record them on cassette and play them back. How many choices can you make in a sitting? There is no limit, although I’d suggest making no more than a dozen. Choose what feels right, and keep choosing. While you’re waiting in a bank line, run through your choices. If you notice yourself wavering, recall the new behavior or feeling that you’ve chosen.

Some profound choices you can make are listed next. Read them all, and circle the ones that best meet your present needs. You may want to craft your own choices, using your own words. Keep reminding yourself of them for at least 21 days.

Aging and Well-Being:

• I choose to feel good about the age I am and relish the years I have left.
• I choose to face the future with confidence.
• I choose to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Career Changes:

• I choose to feel good about my career move.
• I choose to be open to new ideas and information.
• I choose to apply the lessons from previous careers effectively in my new career.

Change in General:

• I choose to handle change with grace and ease.
• I choose to thrive on challenging situations.
• I choose to master changing technology in my field.

The Future:

• I choose to acknowledge that things will work out for the best.
• I choose to face the future boldly and decisively.
• I choose to arise each morning with great anticipation.

Opportunity:

• I choose to recognize and create opportunities.
• I choose to see each minute as new.
• I choose to be open to new avenues for prosperity.

Personal Development:

• I choose to be an active listener.
• I choose to personify grace and ease.
• I choose to acknowledge others often.

I find affirmations such as these useful as starting points, especially when I’m trying out a new idea that has always seemed out of reach before. To help fulfill an affirmation, ask yourself at the end of the 21 days, “What specific actions have I taken to follow through on this choice I have made?” Write down three specific instances.

A Choice Worthy of All

An essential choice for nearly everyone is choosing to feel worthy and complete. This helps me to reduce anxiety, stay calm, and feel more relaxed. Depending on how long it’s been since you’ve felt worthy and complete, you may have to reaffirm this choice for many days or weeks running. Nevertheless, keep at it.

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 A Stitch in Time By choosing to feel worthy and complete, you automatically help redirect yourself and begin to accept that there is nothing you “must” do. Everything is based on your choice.

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If you choose to continue working on some task, even one assigned to you, you make that choice in the present moment, not in response to a prior agenda. A worthy and complete feeling yields a sense of inner harmony.