What Does Your Future Look Like In Five Years?

I was intrigued when my friend told me about a Ted Talk about drawing your dreams.  In the Ted Talk, shown below, Pat Dobrowolski explains that your ideal future begins with a drawing.  Dobrowolski’s theory is that once you draw your ideal reality, your brain finds a way to bring your ideal reality/dreams to fruition.

How does this work?  You draw exactly what you want your future to look like, and then you color your drawing with vibrant colors.  Then, your brain works away to help you make your vision a reality.  Dobrowolski says, “see it, believe it, and then act on it.”

I am going to draw my ideal future, and hopefully, my brain makes some connections!

In addition to the above, Elizabeth Gilbert recently posted the quote, “If you don’t know where you want to be in 5 years…You are already there.”  I found this quote profound.  Similar to Dobrowolski theory, taking pen and color to paper, explained above, Gilbert states that your dreams only come to be by writing them down.  Gilbert states, “Writing down your goals and dreams creates a disturbance in the universe — calls down the attention of your guiding spirits.  Writing down your goals also causes a disturbance in your own soul — wakes you up, and makes you take notice of your own desires.”

Gilbert set forth the following questions for one to answer to help guide one to his/her dreams!  So, take a moment and write down where you want to be in five years, in addition to drawing out your idea future!  Be sure to be honest, brave, and ambitious!

I completed this exercise and it was really helpful, and these questions will also help you to draw your future!

1. Who do you want to be spending your time with (romantically, or otherwise) five years from now?

2. Where do you want to be living?

3. What do you want your health to look like?

4. What do you want your creativity to look like?

5. Where do you want to be working?

6. What do you want to have put behind you by then?

7. If you are dreaming of an escape plan, what might that escape plan look like?

8. How much money will it take to make that dream come true — REALLY?

9. What are you willing to give up, in order to have what you really want?

10. Do you honestly need all the things (and people) that you think you need, or might there be a smoother, simpler way?

11. And what steps can you imagine beginning to take right now…to transport you from HERE to THERE.

Either way, five years is going to pass; and you will either be standing exactly where you are right now, or you will be standing somewhere completely new.