Module 14 · Vision & long-term thinking · Lesson 2 of 6

Imagining possible futures

You have more than one possible future. Sketching a few makes the choice clearer.

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The idea

You do not have one future waiting for you. You have many possible futures, shaped by the choices you make. Psychologists call the images people hold of who they might become “possible selves” — hoped-for selves, expected selves and feared selves — and these images quietly guide what people do.

Imagining several possible futures on purpose is more useful than trying to picture the one right future. It shows you that more than one good life is available, makes the trade-offs between paths visible, and reduces the pressure of a single high-stakes choice.

A simple way: imagine three different paths — Path A, Path B, Path C. For each, ask what it would require, what it would give you, what it would cost, and what kind of person you might become. Then look at what stays the same across all three. That is often what matters most.

Why it matters

People stuck between options often think about only one future at a time, which makes each feel either perfect or terrible. Laying several side by side makes comparisons real and choices easier.

See it happen

Kaito is finishing university and cannot decide between a job in finance, a year teaching abroad, or starting a small business with a friend.

The first read

He keeps trying to work out which one is the right path, and the pressure of choosing wrongly keeps him frozen.

With this idea

He writes all three paths side by side with what each would require, give and cost, and who he might become. He notices that in all three he wants to be learning fast and working with people. He chooses teaching abroad first, knowing finance and business remain possible later.

What changed

He compared several possible futures and found what stayed the same across them.

Easy to get wrong

• Imagining only the best case for one path and the worst case for another.
• Treating the exercise as a final decision. It is a way to see more clearly, not a contract.

What this rests on

Well studied. Researchers have studied this a good deal. The core idea holds up, though details vary between people and settings.

• Hazel Markus & Paula Nurius — possible selves (1986) — The idea that people carry images of who they might become, hope to become and fear becoming, and that these guide what they do.
• Herminia Ibarra — Working Identity (2003) — A study of people changing careers, finding they usually tried out new possibilities in small ways before committing, rather than planning first.

Try it: Three paths

1. Write three different possible paths for the next five years.
2. For each, write what it would require, give and cost.
3. For each, write what kind of person you might become.
4. Write what stays the same across all three.

Reflect

• Which possible future have you not let yourself imagine seriously?
• What do you want in every version of your future?

Use it in the coming days

Complete the Future paths tool this week, and put the most interesting path on your Vision Board as something you are exploring.

Where to do it: My Vision Board

The Vision Board can hold more than one possible future while you explore them.