keyword: Writing your future
You will never know where you will find great reflection exercises. For instance, I found this insightful exercise for envisioning your future in The Comedy Bible: From Stand-up to Sitcom – the comedy writer’s ultimate ‘how-to’ guide by Judy Carter.
Side-Note: I was reading this book because I was investigating stand-up comedy as part of my 12 Hobbies in 12 Months exercise.
The Writing Your Future exercise is all about finding your passions by focusing on writing about where you are going. Judy Carter starts with a story about Jim Carrey.
Insight from Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey was booed off stage the first time he performed stand-up comedy. It took him two years to ever get back on stage. Then at nineteen, he took a bus to LA. Jim Carrey than said the below:
“I wrote myself a check for ten million dollars for ‘acting services rendered’ and I kept it in my wallet until the day I earned it.”
Jim Carrey
Every journey begins with planning your destination.
Writing Your Future Exercise
1. Spend an hour writing an article about your success.
The story you want to appear in print in seven years. Be very specific with who you want to be writing the article. Is it the Time magazine, TED, The Wallstreet Journal, or someone else? Envision what they will be writing about. Is the next greatest start-up that you founded, the up and coming New York Time’s best-seller, or best pumpkin pie maker. Write in very specific detail how you got where you are, the mistakes you made on the way, the personal connections you developed, how philanthropic you have been on the road to success, the character you exhibit, how you were gritty in tough times and opportunistic when you saw the chance. Talk about the struggles you overcame and how you stayed motivated to make your dream a reality. See your journey over seven years and envision the inspirational story you want people to tell about you.
2. Reflect on your story.
How is it different from where you thought it would go? I hope you also realize how strong, resilient, clever, and adaptable you can be to any challenge as well. Did some of your priority goals shift? That is perfectly okay! The whole point of this exercise is to help you realize where you want to go, and the steps that it will take to get there. Now that you know what you want to do.
3. Get very specific about your career goals
My ultimate career goals are
__________________
_________________
To achieve my career goals, the actions I need to take are
_____________
____________
By (insert date) I am committed to the possibility of
__________
By writing your future ahead of time, you can see where you want to focus your energy and the character you want to exhibit as you work towards your goals!
Main Take-Aways
- By writing about your future, you can see where you want to be going.
Action Item
Take an hour to do this exercise during the next week. What did you learn after doing this reflection?
