In a recent newsletter, Greater Good Science Center’s Greater Good Magazine (online) managing editor, Kira Newman, highlighted three main takeaways from her recent excursion to Melbourne, Australia, where researchers from over 60 countries gathered for the International Positive Psychology Association’s 6th World Congress. She said that the findings the researchers shared “added depth and complexity to our understanding of major keys to a flourishing life.”
We’ve already looked at how positive solitude and feeling active can increase happiness.
Today we’ll do the final installment with:
Future-mindedness.
How much do you plan and daydream?
Do you still daydream, make a mental (or literal) list of things you’d like to accomplish tomorrow, next week, next month or next year? Even though they don’t always come to fruition (and we intuitively know they won’t all bear fruit), it turns out that our future ponderings actually contribute to our happiness and well-being.
Newman gives a run-down of what social psychologist Roy Baumeister presented at the conference.
“Happy and optimistic people tend to think about the future more often than their less-upbeat counterparts. Thinking about the future seems to come in two flavors: First we dream big and imagine fantasy outcomes; then, we ‘get real’ and come up with a pragmatic plan.”
And evidently future-mindedness benefits us both personally and relationally. Some of those bennies include:
- allowing you to develop more concrete goals
- solving romantic-partner relationships (by projecting your feelings about it into the future.
That latter practice can lead to less blaming and more forgiveness and greater relationship well-being.
Dangers of faulty future-mindedness—
Negative focused future-mindedness can contribute to:
- depression
- anxiety
- other psychological disorders
That may be why so many popular therapies being used today—future-oriented, hope, solution-focused, and cognitive –behavioral—therapies help you improve the way you think about the future.
How to improve your future-mindedness—
Want to try to improve your future-mindedness at home?
Try journaling—the positive, rather than woe-is-me type of constant lamenting. Write about what opportunities might come your way, what opportunities you could create for yourself.
Make time for future-minded dreaming, individually and as a couple, if you’re married. My husband do a future-minded retreat every year, usually around our anniversary, to take stock of our current life and talk about dreams we have as individuals and as a couple. Hearing someone else’s heart and dreams helps us draw closer and know how to better support one another.
Big future-mindedness—
Societies may also be moving toward being future-minded too, both individually and together.
I think that idea started 50 years ago, when our young President John Fitzgerald Kennedy posed a challenge to both the United States and the world when he said:
“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what American will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
After nearly 60 years, perhaps we are finally embracing the possibilities Kennedy espoused with his most decidedly future-mindedness.
But let’s not overlook the end of Kennedy’s inaugural speech:
“…let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”
And to that I add an Amen!
Until next week, start doodling your daydreams and planning (and hoping) for the future and note how it affects your happiness.
Blessings,
Andrea
Andrea Arthur Owan is an award-winning inspirational writer, fitness pro and chaplain. She writes and works to help people live their best lives—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.