Part of the reason my present isn't as good as I hoped? I didn't have a compelling vision for my future. --- WPenner
What do you see when you think about your future?
Does that vision have the whiff of a pipe dream? Or does every peek into the future send you spinning into replays of past failures?
Me too.
And frankly, I want out!
I want to tell myself a better story. I want a clearer vision of my desired destination. And a plan for getting all that would be even better!
So, that's what I've been working on for the last couple of months. Every couple of days, I choose a problem to overcome, a fuzzy goal to clarify, or a characteristic or skill to acquire. I then write a story detailing the journey.
Trauma Writing
This whole idea started with the idea of trauma writing.
In 2004, James Pennebaker published a book called, Writing to Heal: a guided journal for recovering from trauma. His research pointed to profound effects.
He asked the first cohort of 50 college students to write for just 15 minutes a day for 4 consecutive days. They were given guided instructions, including:
…your goal is to write about your deepest thoughts and feelings about the trauma or emotional upheaval that has been influencing your life the most. In your writing, really let go and explore the event and how it has affected you.
The early studies focused almost exclusively on physical health and have since expanded to examine various aspects of human experience. From this very minimal writing experience (15 minutes a day for 4 days), the impact was dramatic.
- short-term immune function improvement (long-term was yet unproven)
- improved lung function,
- lower pain or disease severity with arthritis
- higher white blood cell counts among AIDS patients
- less sleep disruption with cancer
- improved mood immediately and long-term
- better academic results
- improved social interactions
Dr. Jordan Peterson (yes, that Dr. Peterson) took up the research torch in the 2000s. He wrote highly regarded papers on the subject and ended up creating his Self Authoring program. Instead of focusing only on trauma writing, self authoring is about imaging one's best self through the lens of imagining the future.
The research on this program, done among college students, consistently showed better clarity around longs and short-term goals, better academic achievement, and better health outcomes.
So, guided writing, either about the past or the future, engages the brain so that physical, social and intellectual outcomes improve.
Well, WOW!
There's a lot more research I haven't yet dug into. Being a reader, let me recommend a book other than Pennebaker's I've found valuable: Writing Cures: An Introductory Handbook of Writing as Counselling and Psychotherapy.
I did my first round of trauma writing in 2011. My personal experience verified its power to stop my ruminating on difficult episodes from my past and to focus on more productive things.
Having this as a tool in my self-help kit, I come back to it periodically, as necessary.
Pixar Story Spine
Recently, though, it was the future that bothers me more than the past. I couldn't see clearly what I wanted or how to get to that better place. A lack of imagination about how the events might evolve provides a significant drag on my future prospects.
That's when I remembered the Pixar Story Spine. A quick search offered the tidbit that it wasn't original to Pixar, yet their every hit movie apparently starts with these 7 sentence fragments…
- Once upon a time…
- Every day…
- But one day…
- And because of that…
- And because of that…
- Until finally…
- And ever since that day…
Using that as a starting point, I decided to tell myself alternative stories about who I am and what I can achieve.
I started writing a new story every day, then every couple of days. As the stories grow more elaborate, including external characters and forces, the details require more thought.
I especially focus on current problems, possible situations, goals I want to pursue, and values I want to express. I keep things mostly reality based, but because it's my story, I can also explore alternative endings, or better than expected outcomes.
Below is a template I use to start my story.
Once Upon a Time…
*Save the cat: how are you just a normal person?*
And Every Day…
*What are the problems you're facing?
What are the causes of the problems?*
Until One day…
*What causes the problems to come to a head, forcing you to take action? This is what you don't want to have happen, worst-case scenario.*
And Because of This…
*What difficulties did you face & breakthroughs did you achieve? Where did it take you? What insights did it create? Put lots of detail into how…*
And Because of This…
*What difficulties did you face & breakthroughs did you achieve? Where did it take you? What insights did it create? Put lots of detail into how…*
Until Finally…
*What breakthroughs did you achieve? Put lots of detail into how…*
And Ever Since That Day…
*What does your ideal world look like? This is your purpose*
What does it look like?
The biggest result I've noticed is a renewed sense of enthusiasm. Bored or blue? I pull out a story to cheer myself up and on. I can inspire myself to action and better than my usual effort by reminding myself of what my future could be.
Clarity is another important result of writing plans in narrative form. The story form leaves no room for hiding fuzzy thinking. My inner critic screams, "That's not possible!" or "Prove it!" pushing me to re-think. Putting my 10 year goals through this process, for example, I had to come up with a realistic timeline of technological advance which ultimately convinced me that one goal was probably closer to a 20 year goal.
I recently told one of my stories to a mastermind group focused on pooling intellectual resources to solve a focused problem we all face. Here's how that turned out…
What do you think? Bonkers or brilliant? Leave your reaction on X…