THE PROACTIME METHOD 8

8. Dare to be utopian to overcome your barriers

There is a saying that today's Utopians will be tomorrow's Realists. Or to quote Ernesto «Che» Guevara: « Let us be realists, and try the impossible. » 

To rise above the daily grind also helps to expand our time horizon as mentioned before.

In the narrowness of the present time we cannot avoid privileging the reactive mode. Our time space shrinks. We risk negative stress. We have to step back, to take time to breathe and to get out of the day's clinch. Albert Einstein stated that imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge imprisons us in the past and present. We cannot build our future just by the logical deduction of past events. Who as foreseen the fall of the wall of Berlin in the 80s? Who could imagine the Arab Spring when he or she read about Muhammad Bouazizi, who self - immolated   himself in December 2010?

To govern (our life) is to anticipate. PROACTIME encourages us to be utopian from time to time, to project ourselves far into the future and to image achievements we might have realized. « Cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements. » (Napoleon Hill). Another person wrote: « You can do anything you set your mind to when you have vision, determination, and an endless supply of expendable labor. » Franklin Roosevelt said: « The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. »   These achievements we may dream of help us to set life goals which will orient our daily life.

It is about positive anticipation that tells us where to go and stimulates our daily accomplishments to get there. Negative anticipation is just the opposite. We imagine the risks and possible failures. It prevents us from doing what our heart wishes. Again we need the flexibility to do both positive and negative anticipation. It is vital to identify obstacles, hurdles and traps in order to imagine how to get around or over them. Negative anticipation is useful when it leads to positive anticipation.

There is another aspect to be taken into account. We cannot fulfill ourselves when we live in the narrowness of the present exclusively. Work, family, travel, television do not leave enough space to be confronted with our true, authentic self. We are rarely alone (all one) surrounded by silence.

An authentic person, in the etymological sense of the word, is one acting on his or her own authority, is governed by his or her own laws and not just by external events and values. To get out of the narrowness of daily life is not easy but crucial to express our uniqueness.

We cannot reach fulfillment if everyday life is experienced in a reactive way. Social programming will be overwhelming. Society is by nature repressive and conservative. It does not encourage those who want to explore new grounds and venture into unchartered terrain.

Once again we have to act on both sides of the medal. We are social beings and need society to survive. Living in total autarky is less and less possible in our interdependent and entangled world. On the other hand, fulfillment is based on the process of individuation. It means to accept to be unique and also to accept that our fellow human beings are all different in their feelings, beliefs and values. Individuation is the heroic path where we are lonely and may be misunderstood and condemned.

PROACTIME gives you the opportunity to shape your future according to your uniqueness. The way it is done needs some imagination.

You are invited to design life projects. PROACTIME will ask you to project yourself 20 years ahead and to imagine projects you would be proud to have accomplished within this period.

Then you come back to be 5 years ahead of your time and select projects you were able to accomplish within this period.

Finally back to present times you select one or two life projects you will be able to realize within the next 12 months.

Looking back from the future is the proactive way for shaping one's life.

One advice: do not share your dreams with anybody. People often dislike individual dreams. They do not want us to break new grounds.