Riddle:What time will it be when the future shows up?

In December’s column, Big Enough Why?, I invited you to shift from making resolutions to creating a Big Enough WHY? for 2012 — a shift from being resolved (with crossed fingers) to being committed.

How’s it going?

One of the questions that naturally arises once you have your B.E.WHY is, How? How do I make the unpredictable happen? There is a methodology to achieving breakthrough results. That’s what we’re talking about here, not just incremental improvement, but a break from the predictable. (BTW, incremental is fine and appropriate in many situations.) Repeatedly and reliably producing breakthrough results requires, among other things, expanding self-awareness, questioning beliefs, going beyond comfort zones, thinking in new ways, and welcoming breakdowns. All that requires a particular way of being.

To kick off the “how” discussion, let’s look at our relationship with the future.  Our conventional, well-entrenched wisdom tells us that the future is something out there that will show up some day. Tomorrow, maybe, but not today.  Oh, and about tomorrow. Orphan Annie reminds us: “Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya Tomorrow!  You’re always A day A way!”  (For those who prefer Steve Miller’s “Fly like an eagle”: Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future …)

Maybe that puts a crimp in our plans. Maybe not.

What time is it? For another perspective of the future, consider Eckhart Tolle’s view of time from The Power of Now:

• We are conditioned to think in terms of [three distinct domains of time] past, present and future.
• We are preoccupied with looking both backwards and forwards, anything rather than focus on the present, the here and now.
• We focus on the past because this is what gives us our sense of identity and what has led us to the life circumstances that we currently face.
• We focus on the future because this is where all our dreams and fears will play out.
• We can never actually experience the past or the future. The past is gone. We only ever experience it as a whole series of Nows when we talk or think about it in the present. The same will be true of the future: when it arrives it will be Now. The only thing that ever has any real, underlying validity, is the present, the Now.

Combine what Tolle says with your own experience and Ghandi’s familiar quote: Be the change you wish to see in the world. When we “be” the change we wish to see, we behave today, right now, in a manner that’s consistent with the future we desire. By doing so, we generate the future now.

Whatever you want to experience or be someday, in the future, act and be that way today. Behave today in a way that’s consistent with your future commitment. If you are committed to someday working with people who respect and trust each other, act, as best you can, in a trusting manner with your co-workers today. If you are committed to having more transparent relationships, reveal yourself today. And do it again when the next today comes around. Being and repeating the behavior consistently brings about the change we wish to see.

WIPC TIP: Kick start your year by creating and keeping a commitment that takes no more than a week or two to complete. This spark of success will light the fuse for fulfilling other commitments for the year.

Planning’s good, acting gets results. Where you are is the best (and only) starting place. This isn’t about doing it perfectly; it’s about engaging and discovering your own answer to How? Take action Now, not Tomorrow which is (sing along with me) always a day a way.

Now, answer the riddle.