Time Machine
What does it take to move you?
Have you ever wished you had a time machine, one which could propel you back to a certain point where if you had taken action, your current world would be entirely different? Do you make it a practice to hold frequent “conversations” with your future self?
Jump in a time machine, and head back twenty years with me to Africa. Born in Rhodesia, Mike Clark’s homeland was a turbulent place to grow up. Raised by a solo mum in a time when such things were very uncommon, he was a shy, headstrong kid who preferred volleyball to academics. The year is 2003, and Mike is entering his thirties. The country, now named Zimbabwe, is entrenched in political violence, high inflation and constant unrest. With a young family, making the decision to leave your homeland and go find somewhere else to live is fairly daunting. It’s a decision you tend to put off – maybe things aren’t that bad. Until they are .As part of a political jousting that was going on at the time, the military came into the Junior School where Mike’s kids were at school, and shut it down We’re talking people with guns in a place where there are children. Within days, the military had entered his workplace: the largest privately owned organisation in southern Africa, the Treger Group. They arrested and dragged the leadership team out of the company, while Mike was there. This series of events created necessity in his life in a way that gave certainty, momentum and forward traction like nothing else.
This is the power of necessity. It changes your To Do List into a Must Do List. It takes the optional and makes it non-negotiable. Cast back in your own time machine, and see what critical moments have moved you forward to the place you currently are. Now, here is the power of an actual functional time machine – cast forward in your mind, and see what place you want to be in. Think two years, five years, ten years – what do you want your world to look like? Having done this, add the Necessity ingredient – for this to happen, what MUST you do?
I was jolted into reality, talking with a financial advisor a short time ago, when his phrase “around ten years until you reach retirement age” made me blink. I don’t know what he said after that, as suddenly the timeclock of my life morphed in my mind, and reality slapped me in the face. My future self was urgently pointing the finger at current me, and saying “You have to get some things sorted out. It’s time to change your story.” Propelled by this urgency, I capitalised on Josh’s consistency, and told myself if he could run a half marathon every day, surely I could walk something every day. From zero regular exercise, I’ve gone to having walked over 100km this month. That is also the power of necessity.
What drives you? What do you need to change so your future self thanks you? What will move you to create the life and person you want to be?
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