"Dreaming after all, is a form of planning."

Over the past two years in and out of lockdowns, I’m sure many of you have caught yourselves daydreaming about the future and what it would look like once this was all over?

If your answer is yes, and you plan for your future often – even if it’s just the week ahead – then according to research, you could be on the way to leading a more generous and fulfilled life!

According to Dr. Martin Seligman, who is one of the most-cited psychologists in the 20th Century, this behaviour is called “prospection,” and it broadly refers to the mental representation and evaluation of all possible futures. He suggests that prospection enables us to break the chains of our past, so we can be drawn toward the future. What does prospection look like in practice? It may include planning, prediction, hypothetical scenarios, daydreaming and evaluative assessment of possible future events.

If there’s one thing a global pandemic has taught us it’s to not take our lives, freedom, and future for granted. Back in March 2019, we were plummeted into an uncertain future, with life as we knew it turned upside down. For many of us, all the plans we’d made for the rest of the year (and the one after that) – quickly came to a halt, with no certainty as to when we would ever be able to make plans again.

You may not have realised it at the time, but if you spent time in lockdown fantasizing about your next holiday, saving for your children’s education or your retirement, or even planning a home renovation – then studies suggest that your life will be enriched in at least four ways, including:

1. Making more prudent decisions

2. Motivation to achieve our goals

3. Improved psychological-being

4. Making us kinder and more generous

You can read the full article here.

So now that restrictions are easing, what possible futures do you see and are you drawn towards it? What are you excited about or looking forward to? It may be further education or studies, travelling, a long-awaited wedding, engagement or milestone birthday celebration or your family and friends meeting your new baby in person for the very first time.

Personally, I am looking forward to being back out in nature and I also have some new projects on the go – which I will be revealing in the near future (hopefully before Christmas) – watch this space!