Studies show that this is also quite common: We become more open to the possibility of change as we get closer to achieving a long-term goal.1 We anticipate the end of one journey and look ahead to a new one beginning.

1. Focus on a few favorite signals of change and future forces. Your scenario should be inspired by real things already happening today. Start by identifying some signals of change and future forces you’re either really excited about or really worried about.

encourage you to choose at least three of your own future forces to track. Try to have a bit of balance in your list—at least one of the forces you pick should feel like a risk to you, and at least one should feel like an opportunity:

But hard empathy is easier to practice when you’re not just guessing, when you’re actually getting direct information from others about what they want and need. It can be as simple as asking two questions: What keeps you up at night when you think about the future? What makes you leap out of bed with excitement in the morning when you think about t

Nearly fifty years ago, psychology researchers discovered something remarkable: if you want someone to believe that a future event is likely, you just have to ask them to imagine it happening, in as much vivid detail as possible.

First, pick any urgent challenge you feel strongly about, such as economic inequality, broken health systems, extreme political divisions, racial injustice, brittle supply chains, overworked workers, the climate crisis, or any other “preexisting condition” of the future you have in mind. Next, pick a specific community that you’re a part of. It cou

In my experience, there are four different ways people refuse the urgent call of the future: with distancing, denial, fatigue, or surrender.

This time, I want you to imagine yourself waking up ten years from today. Take as long as you need to come up with a vivid and plausible image—of yourself, of the space that you’re in, and who might be with you. Where are you ten years from today? What’s around you? What do you see, hear, smell, and feel? What’s the first thing on your mind when yo

ten years is far and away the most common answer to the question “When does the future start?”