The Every-Year Itch. Kirsten de Bouter Shillam

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      YOUR FUTURE YOUR WAY

       In 100 years from now

       Your bank balance will be irrelevant

       And so will be your insurances, your policies, your pension

       Your disagreements, your portfolio,

       the colour of your hair.

       Only that which money couldn’t buy

       Could have changed the world

       You once occupied

       Rendering you immortal

       Depending on what you sowed

      Introduction

      There is too much talk about the changing world. You must have been knocked unconscious not to know that there has been a rapid development in all fields over the last 15–20 years. Our lives aren’t the same and there is no sign it’s slowing down. Most importantly, turning around and going to back to when life “might have been simpler”, “where you could all crowd round the TV” and “rewind your cassette recorder”, is not an option.

      It’s never what happens but how you deal with it, that really matters. Except for the fact that most of us have not been adequately prepared for what’s happening. We have our roots firmly in working with pen and paper, owning things that you can actually see and hold, climbing the ladder of success chronologically in order to gain a result somewhere near the top. Life –so we were told – was organised around a pattern. You go to school, you do your best, you gain a qualification, you find a job that offers you good benefits and security. You work hard, get a promotion and put aside money for a rainy day. A number of weeks a year you go on holiday, until you reach the age of 65.

      IT'S NEVER WHAT HAPPENS

      BUT HOW YOU DEAL WITH IT,

      THAT REALLY MATTERS.

      It’s a simplification, but many people based their plans on these assumptions. Fundamentally knowledge was power. For this reason, you attended school and the higher you were educated, the more chances you had to do well in life. Things were structured.

      In today’s world, knowledge is everywhere and accessible to many more people than ever before. It’s not so much the knowledge that gives you power, but what you can do with it and who you can reach. Anyone can have knowledge at their fingertips, achieve some kind of result, but who can create meaning, do something amazing with it, think outside the famous box or motivate a community of followers?

      There is permission in today’s society for people to take the initiative, start their own company, work from a shed or become a digital nomad. Age, background, education or previous experience are not necessarily featuring in the top three of absolute requirements anymore.

      SO, WHERE IS THIS GOING?

      This chapter looks at the cause-process-result lesson. A blind focus on the results of life reduces the prospect of living considerably.

      Apply the creative brain and follow your personal compass to find the way to your itch. Not waiting for instructions, but trusting yourself as your buoy.

      WHAT GOT US HERE

      IS NOT GOING TO GET US THERE

      The cause–process–result lesson

      When we meet new people the question “What do you do?” seems to supply us with endless information about who the other person is. Only, does what someone does for a living really define them? Is that who they are or is that just a question that helps to categorise someone?

      I worked for some time with a client who from the outset would try to catch me off guard by asking unusual non-result-based questions. “What do you think is the ‘nature’ of this day?” he would ask, or “What have you learned today?” and “What would you change tomorrow?” Conversations were interesting and thought-provoking, teaching me to think beyond the standardised СКАЧАТЬ