Future is the sum of todays
Like many others my age, I constantly think about the future. Well, my future to be specific. The pandemic introduced more randomness to an already chaotic equation - working towards the future. In middle of my second (and very expensive) degree, I sometimes fall into slippery slopes of terrible futures. I often times than not find myself asking the question “what if I don’t get placed?” and seeing the job market plus the placement record of my seniors is no help either. As in most cases, my elder sister came to the rescue.
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Being committed to today
She often says “Future is just the culmination of what we’re dong right now”. Mundane and obvious at first, it is very hard to imbibe this understanding.
As humans, we are constantly future looking - as we should be. Self preservation demands it. The two questions we want to solve are:
How do we survive long into the future?
How do we prosper with time?
The real point of enquiry is how do we solve these problems? The first question is a first order problem, linked with basic survival. The fact that millions of people still have to address this question is a direct impediment into the evolution of species as a whole. Millions of minds that are currently thinking about their next meals, could be thinking about how to solve the water crisis, or build the fuel of tomorrow, or tame nuclear energy for regular use. Imagine what that would mean for our civilization.1
The second question is a second order problem, in so far as, basic survival ensured, how does one make sure that they progress with time? Mostly in economic terms.2 Put in other words how does one achieve their goals? Or if not exactly that, at least manage to prosper with time?
One of the answers to this came from my sister who advised me that the only way one could actually work for a better future is to make sure that we work for it, today - everyday. Once you have a rough idea of what you have to do in order to reach where you want to, incorporate those elements in your daily life. But the most important part of it to become outcome independent. Which is to say that do not assume that doing that work will definitely get what you want, because mostly it won’t. Also if you constantly work with the anticipation of results, you will most likely give up in middle because most worthwhile results come after a long time. Thus, you need to be committed to the process.
Another major learning has been identifying the difference between worrying and thinking. Worrying is when you spin alternate realities in which Murphy’s law is the only applicable law in universe. It is based on irrational fear. And thus should warrant no time. Thinking on the other hand is rational investigation about any subject matter. You consider your options, outcomes and possible pathways. The underlying feature of this is that it is based in reality. Overthinking is a negative sum game. Also note that it does not solve either of the two questions outlined above.
In a world of random iterations, one of the only ways to create order out of chaos is to do ‘consistent hard work’.3 So, I will be implementing my sister’s advice. Not thinking too much about the future4 and staying committed to my work in the present. Let’s see how this works out :D
Also wonderful to note that this is nothing but the wisdom of Bhagvad Geeta.
“Karm karo, phal ki chinta mat karo”
You can follow Vidushi (my sister) here.
Poverty alleviation is one of mankind’s biggest moral imperative. The sheer amount of human potential that gets wasted due to poverty is incalculable.
Tyler Cowen, one of world’s foremost economist argues that one of the blind spots of GDP is that it does not measure happiness.
A friend asked a gates scholar, who is her colleague, about how he won the scholarship. And he said that he did ‘consistent hard work’. Me and my friend laughed about it for quite some time.
“Worrying is like a rocking chair. It feels like you’re moving but you end up at the same place”