Balance of living in the past, present, and future.
Feeling stuck in your current stage of life and just wanting to finally be in the future that you have always dreamed about? Me too.
I love setting goals and I was thinking about what I want my life to look like in 10, 15, 20 years, and when I think ahead I get excited because I imagine that I will finally be content and have everything I want. I will be living in a new town, I will be pursuing my passions, and I will have my big family that I always wanted.
When thinking about this although I am excited for the future, I don’t want to be living in the future and then never end up getting there and I also don’t want to just live in the present and not do anything to help myself get to that next stage in life.
The big question here is how can I remember my end goal, but also live in the present, while taking pieces from my past to help motivate me.
How can I use my past to get me to my large future goals?
I will use my past to remind myself of what I love and don’t love about life.
I can look back on times where I was happiest, or must fulfilled and add those “items” to my present. If they aren’t attainable at the moment, I will create a goal for getting those feelings or activites back into my routine.
How can I use the present to get me to my large future goals?
The biggest thing about the present, is you have to create S.M.A.R.T. goals that are attainable and often more short-term to get you to that goal in 10+ years. It’s very easy to look at the big picture and say well I just want that, but it’s important to step back and say what 20 things can I do to get there. It doesn’t have to be 20 goals, but you get the idea.
I will look back on my past and do my best to get some of the things I enjoyed back into my life now. For example, I loved feeling like I was in control of my day prior to having a family of my own.
How can I use the future to get me to my large future goals?
Though the future is exciting, I think it’s super important to not get stuck looking forward to it, and doing nothing to get yourself there. I am making sure that I align my current goals with what I want out of my future. I want to be a healthy and strong mom, so I am making sure I stay active today and always incorporate that in my routine.
I am making sure I know what I need to have that future life whether it’s financial goals, career goals, etc.
One day, I will get there, but I will never get there if I don’t put in the work today. I think figuring out the balance of living in the past, present, and future is much harder than we think and it’s important to give ourselves grace. Even if we figure out today what we want our future to look like, that may change in 3 months or 3 years, and that’s okay. It’s about how we handle it.