"Always remember that the future is not just a destination, it's a navigational beacon!" - Futurist Jim Carroll
Futurist Jim Carroll is writing a series, “25 Things I’ve Learned That Will Carry Me Into 2025.” He is putting this together based on his 30-year career as a futurist, trends, and innovation expert, advising leaders of some of the world’s most prestigious organizations on how to align to a faster future. He intends for the series to provide valuable guidance to others eager to learn how to move through a year that promises to be volatile, unpredictable, and full of uncertainty. Each day, the post will go out on multiple mailing lists, social media networks, and to the Website https://2025inspiration.jimcarroll.com
I learned long ago that the future just isn't a place we go - it's a direction we should always be focused on! It's not a place that we arrive at - it's a series of events that we strive to achieve to get to the opportunities it presents. It's not just a place that we arrive at and spend our time - it's an elusive target that is always out there, begging us to participate in what it offers.
That's why you need to stop thinking about the future as just a destination - you need to think about it as a direction to take! It's a lighthouse beacon screaming out to you from the fog, providing you desperately needed insight on where you need to go to avoid the hazards of disruption, the challenges of the fast currents of relentless changes, and the relentless swells of ongoing volatility that it tosses your way.
Follow the guidance it is offering you.
I can't emphasize enough that shaping your future is more about adopting a particular way of thinking rather than just reaching a specific goal. This way of thinking involves several key elements that are critical to what you do: it's a directional mindset that has several key characteristics.
- a forward orientation: The most important thing you can do is to make sure you are always focusing on what's ahead instead of dwelling on the past. This means understanding and anticipating future trends, proactively adapting to change, and constantly seeking new knowledge and skills - and starting to act on that forward orientation rather than acting on today and yesterday.
- a mindset of continuous reinvention: A directional mindset acknowledges that the future is not a static endpoint but a journey of continuous adaptation, a story that involves relentless evolution. You must be prepared to reinvent yourself, your skills, and even your business model to stay relevant and thrive in our rapidly changing world - and do this on a continuous basis as a part of the voyage.
- an openness to opportunity: You can't keep clinging to today or looking back with fondness at yesterday. A directional mindset is characterized by a willingness to embrace new possibilities, challenge assumptions, and explore uncharted territories - and do that nonstop. It's about seeing the future not as a threat, but as a landscape full of potential opportunities waiting to be discovered and shaped, and acting on those opportunities NOW.
- continuous proactive action: A directional mindset is not passive; it's a mindset that is all about taking action, making decisions, and moving forward despite uncertainty. It's about understanding that the future is not something that simply happens to you; it's something you actively create through your choices and actions. The steps involved are making those choices instead of avoiding them.
- a core of mental flexibility: A directional mindset recognizes that the path to the future is rarely straightforward. It requires agility, the ability to adjust course, and a willingness to learn from setbacks. You need to be comfortable with ambiguity embrace the fact that the future is full of twists and turns - and move yourself accordingly.
By cultivating a directional mindset - one of action, not stagnation - you become more than just a passive passenger on the journey to the future. You become an active participant, a navigator, and a creator, shaping your destiny before others shape it for you.
Over the years, I've seen this mindset in some of the more successful Fortune 500 executives and organizations I've spent time with worldwide. Successful future-oriented leaders and companies share a common trait - they understand that thriving tomorrow requires more than just planning for a fixed endpoint - they are focused equally on the voyage that is involved in getting there.
When I spend time with major manufacturing clients, I see many who are fixated on "the way we've always done things" who then get blindsided by disruption. The winners? I see that they're busy scanning the horizon, tracking emerging technologies and trends, and positioning themselves to capitalize on what's next. They invest a lot of time in building the foundation for the voyage, knowing that it involves a lot of specific steps, rather than just some grandiose one-time project.
I've also seen it with a few healthcare organizations. One hospital network I advised completely reimagined its care delivery model around virtual health solutions long before COVID hit. When the pandemic arrived, they were ready while others scrambled - because they knew that the future was telling that the virtualization of healthcare was a clear destination and that it would involve a lot of investment to get there.
The most innovative organizations I work with cultivate what I call "opportunity radar" - they're constantly sensing and responding to weak signals of change. A retail client detected early signs of the subscription economy trend and launched a wildly successful subscription box service while competitors watched from the sidelines. Again, when the volatility of the pandemic hit, they were better positioned than their competitors.
A major energy company I spent time with didn't just talk about renewable energy disruption - they committed billions to transforming their infrastructure and talent base. They challenged their business model because they could see that we are shifting to a world in which local energy microgrids are becoming a key part of the overall energy grid. They did everything they could to shift their thinking to this reality and act upon the many steps it would take to get there - so much so that this architecture became their mindset, not just a destination.
Notice a trend? All of these organizations had a common leadership mindset - you can't just think about the future, you have to act on it as a series of steps to take. The companies that own tomorrow understand that the path forward isn't linear - it's a routine. I tell my clients: develop your change muscles. Build your ability to pivot, experiment, and course-correct as the landscape shifts. The future belongs to the agile.
The organizations that internalize this directional mindset - that watch the navigational beacon that is tomorrow - don't just survive in a world of exponential change - they thrive on it.
They become the disruptors rather than the disrupted.
The question is: are you cultivating the directional mindset needed to shape it, rather than be shaped by it?
Futurist Jim Carroll has been chasing the future as soon as he came to understand that it is just waiting to be chased.