The Future and Now
“If we were to add 5 years to your current age, where do you see yourself?”
I was in the middle of changing jobs when I had a chat with a recruiter who asked me this one question that got me spilling out my wish/desire and where I want to be in 5 years. That was the first time someone had asked me this question in a creative way that made me imagine myself as a 31-year-old lady and what I would have achieved by then.
I am team no pressure, but this is different from societal expectations. By societal expectations, I mean the usual for a Nigerian graduate from the university, to get a job, get married, and start raising children. I don’t have anything against this as long as it is your decision, but I have a problem when it’s being used as a metric for success and progress.
Back to my story, I took a deep breath and responded as far as I could see myself. After that session, I laughed at myself because if you had asked me that question in January, I would have given an entirely different response. And trust me, if I were asked this same question in December, I would have added something else and probably removed something that I don't think is relevant.
So you see, envisioning your future does not mean that is what your future will look like exactly, it’s simply a strategy for you to have an idea of where you are headed while you work towards it. At the same time, as you grow and give yourself to learning and development, your expectations and desire will grow with you and you will see the possibilities in the things that you would have ordinarily termed impossible, and then the cycle continues. Like my friend would say, God, will only take you as far as you can see.
“………..the Lord said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction — north and south, east and west. I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession.” Genesis 13:14–15
Unlike the societal demands, you get to choose what you want to focus on per time and season, focus on your satisfaction and fulfillment and also fulfill the purpose for which God has created you. You are happy, God is happy and that is all that matters.
Wrapping this piece up with a task or assignment that you will grade yourself. Get a journal, post-it note, or anything that serves as your notepad, imagine yourself at your next birthday or exactly one year from now, what do you desire to have achieved? Where do you see yourself? When you have that outlined, you can go ahead to split them into months and even weeks and you have your future staring at you.
Disclaimer: If you’ve tried this before and you did not meet your goal, beat yourself small, try again, and this time around try another way. If there is a roadblock, you don’t remain stuck, you find an alternative route, if there is no alternative route, find the root cause of the roadblock and remove it. The most important thing here is that you do not give up, it's your life and you are responsible for it.
If you find this piece insightful, clap as many times as possible for other people to see and learn, drop a comment or send me a DM on Twitter, and share with your friends and family.
