Some of us (emphasis on Some) had the future all figured out…With a degree in hand, show you are the smartypants in the room, get important company titles, make and save enough for a big house, raise a family, and retire to golfing or pickleball and world cruises.

But wait… “The future ain’t what it used to be.” — Yogi Berra (Yankee Catcher)

Breaking News — The world is a mess, and the future is radically unknowable and scary!

(But remember that our world still has some amazingly beautiful parts worth preserving and nurturing)

The future has always been unknowable, and whether you thought it was scary was based on who and where you were; some even think “everything is fine where I am”, only to find that being fine is only temporary.

But now, in this global age of change, in this emerging Future Reset of the current order, all previous future assumptions are questionable, and everybody is affected, without exception.

In the USA, our Atlantic and Pacific Ocean moats no longer provide protection from outside threats, and our inside grand experiment of Adolescent Democracy and Infinite Growth Capitalism is showing undeniable signs of collapse in critical sectors, again threatening our previous assumptions about life in the future.

The Poly-Crisis:

We won’t go through a long description of our current Poly-crisis (mostly self-made), you probably already know and feel this breaking down, and recognize something big is changing.

That something big is impacting the livelihoods of many of us right now: Previously successful Business models are being torn down like old buildings; Jobs are disappearing before new grads can even apply; Whole areas of Career Paths are projected to be flattened by the AI steamroller; Previously successful and experienced career builders are now staring into the abyss of lost livelihood and self-identity.

If there is a Poly-Crisis happening all around us, then we’ll need an innovative and resilient Poly-Response.

You are the instrument of change.

Master your instrument.

First Responder Suggestions:

Right now, we can apply much of the learning from past experiences in life and business to find ways of responding as individuals:

Claim your Self-Agency — This response is yours to do, so know that you can do it. If you haven’t yet claimed your self-agency (being who you came into the world to be, self-authoring your life, continually creating and growing, and calling your own shots), make this a priority. You won’t truly experience the richness of thriving without it.
Expand your horizons to new opportunities — Take Learning Journeys (learn from those who know what you need to know) and orchestrate Innovation Journeys with others to create what you have always wanted to create.
Build your own Brand and Platform — Your personal brand will be your ticket of admission to new opportunities, so build your own brand platform, don’t just be a rider and spectator on others’ platforms.
Reduce to Invest and Expand — Pare back on the old and expand the new, leveraging your own assets and connections to invest in your new future.
Create a Portfolio of Livelihood — The mono-career is dying, so look at your livelihood as a portfolio of self-creation (not just a job application), mixing many ways to shape your success in the future.
Make money while you sleep — When possible, convert your competencies, experiences, and skills into products and services (with others) that can make money while you sleep.
Be abundant — Share some of what you know, do, or have. You will enjoy helping others and will build connections that will come back to benefit you as well.
Build communities — We all have a need for belonging and mutual support. Join or make your own community. Local and virtual communities are often rich grounds for growing new ways of thriving.
Deepen your understanding of what is happening and coming — Create your own Zeitgeist charts or journals to broaden and deepen your understanding of the emerging future environment. This is necessary for seeing where unexpected opportunities may arise.
Be bold, curious, and kind — These are important ways of being in the future, these are the kind of people we want to be with: Be audacious and standout, the future transformation will require courage; Be curious, continually explore to discover new opportunities for thriving; Be kind, caring and empathic to those around you, they will care about you when they know you care about them…then you can thrive together.

While these suggestions, and many more, are good and can certainly help, we all need to get better at preparing for and responding to the Poly-Crisis, or as some see it…the opportunity of the Great Turning (a shift in consciousness and new ways to contribute to life).

We need to dig deeper so that we fully thrive, not just survive, in the overwhelming unknown of the near- and long-term future.

We need IA more than AI:

We need significant leaps of Innovation & Adaptation (IA).

This means we need to individually and collectively evolve/transform, become less fragile to external changes while paradoxically becoming more fully human, and proactively shape the future we want for us and those who will follow.

We must innovate our lives and livelihoods, aikido the future changes flung our way, and adapt to a new world that won’t look like the one we assumed would always be there.

The world is going through a big change, and that means we must make significant changes, even completely transform.

What does transformation look like?

First, we need to surrender to the reality that our current way of doing things can’t be fixed, that it needs to be transformed. And when the system around us is transforming, we in the system will need to transform as well.

Accepting transformation is a lot like agreeing to go white water rafting for the first time; it is simultaneously scary and exciting.

To transform to a new way of Thriving, we need to go through a Regenerative Transformation Loop:

(1) Screw up the status quo, let go of our old thinking and identity (sometimes seen as collapse), but keep the good stuff that makes us who we authentically are.

(2) Evoke a significant mind shift, a metanoia, and, as Ken Wilber stated it… “Grow-up, Wake-up, Open-up, and Clean-up”, redefining our relationship to the future world.

(3) Activate a resurgence/renewal, with new visions, competencies, and ways of living and working together.

We have done this many times (mostly through trial and error) since we started walking upright, but it was never easy, and now, we must do this personally, locally, and globally (eventually).

All genuine growth requires true effort — investing in new thinking, unleashing new energy, redesigning, struggling to grow new capabilities, honoring the grief of the loss of old ways, and embracing a true commitment to creatively nurture what needs to emerge.

Broad change won’t happen uniformly, everywhere at once. At first, it will pop up and spill out in various smaller groups, locations, and sectors of society. Then it will catch hold and spread.

Here is the good news — People who study transforming change tell us that it only takes a relatively small percentage of committed people to affect a much larger transformation.

While we may want to change the world, and perhaps we can eventually, let’s focus first on what we, those reading this article, can do.

What do we need to do?

Take Transformation Personally…

Recognize that all effective transformation is an inside job that begins with us personally choosing to explore the gap between who we are now and who we can become.

People who study these things will tell you that humankind is in Arrested Development, still operating collectively at an Adolescent level at best (to verify this, just watch the national and international news or, better yet, travel out there and discover it for yourself).

Don’t look to others to do the transforming — We all need to mature in our development, psychologically and spiritually. Each of us can and should be doing this for ourselves to personally thrive and for the sake of transforming the world for the better.

And we need to heal our personal traumas and pains, facing the shadow that keeps us from living fully with clarity and compassion.

Much of what is wrong in this world comes from not healing and letting our unhealed shadow splash out in painful ways on others (If you need living examples, follow the actions of the leaders of our most powerful countries).

Also, we need to improve and expand intellectually with fresh insights.

And we aren’t limited to what our brain does.

We can learn what scientists, artists, and spiritual teachers have been telling us for a long time…our intelligence is not just in our brain bucket, we are receiving information through our body “antennae” that informs our choices if we let it.

Here is what Gemini AI has to say about receiving… The human body’s sensory systems gather roughly 11 million to 1 billion bits of data per second. In stark contrast, the conscious brain processes only about 10 to 60 bits per second. This creates a massive bottleneck, where the subconscious handles vast inputs while conscious awareness is extremely limited.

Why is this important? We have so much more potential if we open ourselves to receiving inputs just waiting for us to turn the dial to the right frequency (read one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th Century, Buckminster Fuller, or countless others to learn more about tapping into received information… “I don’t know how I got it, it just came to me”).

Do the work of transforming to open the channels of reception, and you will expand your thriving intelligence. Deep body work to clear blocked channels in the body and achieve greater somatic agency is vital to opening the receiving channels.

The truth of what we must do to transform has a way of chasing us down and facing us with the daunting task of doing our own transformation when we might rather just take a pass and stay spectators.

It is time we surrender to the inevitability of transformation and master our self-becoming, the full expression of our Self-Agency.

The good news is we don’t have to do this alone. We have one another and we have gifted transformation guides who have valuable experiences with leap transformations.

And, most importantly, all of us have it within ourselves to pull this off if we so choose.

Understand The Possible Future Realities…

If we are to thrive in the future, we need to understand our future environment (you wouldn’t travel to Mars without first understanding the environment, yet most don’t fully understand our own socio-economic-ecological environment here on Earth).

We need to zoom out, take in the Zeitgeist (what’s happened, what’s happening, where it is going, and what does it mean), and play out the scenarios that will shape future innovation and adaptation (scenarios are not predictive, but they do prepare the mind and clarify possibilities).

BTW — a true Zeitgeist exploration is Past-Present-Future. It draws from the past tributaries of wisdom and insights, as well as the current and envisioned realities.

In this exploration, we discover what Thriving-Resiliency truly means and what it will require in the future.

Return to What is True

To move into the future, we need to go back to what is important, our True North (core human values, vision of tomorrow), and recognize our True Essence (Its true, we all came in with a gift of uniqueness that no other shares) so that we can build our future upon this solid True foundation.

We have found it helps to map and explore our life journey stories and then project the continuing new chapter in that journey. The insights soon reveal what is essential.

If we skip this step, we may find ourselves making decisions about the future that take us off our path of our natural flow and the world we truly want.

When we look at the mess we have created through our politics, business decisions, and personal living choices, we can trace the causes back to a lack of True understanding and valuing of the dynamics behind it all.

We didn’t know what we didn’t know and/or we chose to ignore and devalue what was important (Which is it…Ignorance or blatant disregard?)

We can stop this downward spiral by expanding our understanding of system dynamics and whole, integral thinking (learn more from the “Best Business Book of the Last 75 Years” by Peter Senge… THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE, and read the philosophical works of Ken Wilber to deepen your understanding of dynamic systems and integral development.

Set our Future POV, Identity, and Role

Based on our Essence, we can define our philosophy/POV in future shaping and define our possible new role and identity.

Personal or collective transformation requires a “new job to be done,” and this calls for a reimagining of ourselves in a new world environment.

In this exploration of ourselves in the future, we start to develop a new worldview and way of thinking that shapes our new identity and contribution to the future.

This critical work often manifests in new livelihoods, careers, and entrepreneurial new ways of thriving…where the Venn diagram of our passions, gifts, and world needs intersect.

Develop Future Competencies

Transformation essential to thriving means we must master new competencies and new ways of being more fully human.

Competencies are deeper, more foundational than skills. They must be identified and mastered through conscious development.

We have found that four competencies are essential for future thriving: Creative Innovation (emphasis on human creativity); Storytelling (bringing insight and coherence to the data /information flooding us daily); Zoom Out/In (seeing the opportunities and handling complexity); Greater Potential Development (of people and processes).

We think these four competencies, often manifested through many skill sets, should be taught in our schools and enterprises, along with System Dynamics and Integral Development.

Unfortunately, most teaching today still centers around a model of conformity (sit in your rowed seats for hours without squirming, pleasing the one in power) and predictability (get the one right answer). This is teaching to a model of a future that no longer exists.

Along with new Competencies, thriving in the future will require a new level of Enterprise and Human Resiliency, becoming what Nassim Taleb calls “Anti-fragile”. This means we are not defeated by change but benefit from it.

Enterprise example — when fossil fuel peaked, and people acknowledged its damaging effects, green alternatives began to surge in value and importance. As the fossil fuel crisis continues, green alternatives become more anti-fragile.

People example — As AI becomes better able to handle tasks done by people, then we must better understand and accelerate our mastery of our uniqueness as humans. As Carl Jung pointed out…to be fully whole and human, we must more fully develop our Feeling, Sensing, Thinking, and Intuition. Something machines can’t do, and therein lies our advantage and joy of living fully.

Create a New Stage of Thriving and Resilience

Going into the future requires us to make commitments to the changes we have been developing throughout our stages of transformation exploration.

In manifesting a transformational change, we have a choice… “We either change through Crisis or Discipline” (or sometimes both, but in any case, changing is an imperative, not a maybe, in this time of the world’s enormous shift).

A commitment to Personal Mastery is essential to developing a full and successful transformation.

Personal Mastery means — Awakening to new realities, letting go of past delusions, developing new and anti-fragile capabilities, and holding to a positive new Vision.

Through our chosen, or forced, discipline, we can achieve a level of mastery that leads to the “Flow State” so often described by great athletes in performance, or artists in their most creative moments, or scientists achieving the “Ah, Ha!” breakthrough. Look for an acceleration of Flow as you increase your personal mastery.

What to master — A long time ago, the Buddhists identified the “Eightfold Path” that we all can work to master… “Right” — Livelihood, View (understanding), Resolve (intention), Action, Effort, Speech, Mindfulness, Concentration (often aided by Meditation).

We will also need tools for orchestrating and keeping this transformation on a solid growth path.

One important tool we have found is important to make our commitments and keep things on track is the one-page Decision Filters (our simple but powerful Decision Filters models are hung on walls all over the world and are used by top leaders when they are making important choices about opportunities or challenges).

In addition to Flow, Mastery, and Decision making, it will be important to bring alive the picture of the desired future.

Nothing communicates faster and more effectively than a picture (still or moving). We have found Vision charts, graphics, or videos are particularly valuable for inspiration, remembering what is most important, and as the first filter in decision making (If this opportunity brings our vision closer to realization, then say yes; if it doesn’t, then drop the idea).

BTW — Simple one-line Vision Statements are not a Vision (“We’re going to be very important and rich”). True visions are richer and deeper, with enough detail that people can understand what it means to them and value it as a catalyst to action.

As we make our plans for a new and better future, we want to make sure they are complete and integral.

To do this, it helps to take a whole system, integral approach.

This means designing our new future through the lens of I (my personal development and change), WE (our community and culture), IT (my body/mind health and wholeness), and ITS (Our environment, society, economy). Ken Wilber calls this AQAL development and transformation. (All Quadrants, All Lines)

Change that is not AQAL rarely works. We don’t make change IN, we make change OF.

Keep the Transforming Process Going

As the great poet R.M. Rilke put it… “I live my life in growing orbits that move out over the things of the world. Perhaps I will not achieve the last, but that will be my attempt.”

The Regenerative Transformation Loop is just one snapshot of the spiraling orbit of change that is our life. We will continue this orbiting, upwardly expanding spiral throughout our lives if we are lucky.

When Robert Kegan, the Harvard professor, described our levels of consciousness, he noted that the fifth level is Self-Transformative and doesn’t end.

As we continually spiral upward in our development, we use our new development to stay resilient and thrive in an ever-changing environment.

During this time, we must stay true to the path of our vision but not rigid in execution. In the choppy, uncharted waters ahead, we must remain flexible and responsive.

We must allow new, unexpected strategies to emerge.

In fact, as we continually use our future competency to Zoom Out/In, expect that our vigilant scanning will open new opportunities that will turn into emergent strategies of thriving success.

Yes, “the world is a mess, and the future is radically unknowable and scary,” but we can be knowable to ourselves, and we can turn the scary into the possible.

When we do this well, we can Thrive in the Unknown and valuably contribute to the Future Shaping of our world.

Written by: Dan Beam

Illustrated & Designed by: Drew Beam

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Future Shaping: Thriving in the Unknown