LESSON 04
In this lesson, we look at some routines and habits we need to cultivate the mindset of a futurist.
Topics
- Routine, habit or ritual
- Some essentials habits
- Developing a futurist mindset
- Habits to cultivate an open mind
- Making the future happen
Course Progress
Routine, habit or ritual
We often use habits, routines and rituals interchangeably, but they are not the same. The most important distinction is the degree of awareness and energy we invest in each action. Habits and routines are both regular and repeated actions. The difference is; habits happen with little or no conscious thought, and routines require intention and effort.
Habits, good or bad, need only little awareness. They are an automatic impulse to do something, often triggered by a particular cue. Waking up, commuting, walking past a cafe and starting a meeting are all cues that can trigger actions such as drinking coffee or buying a snack.
Routines on the other hand, take deliberate effort and practice. Making your bed in the morning, going to the gym, or meditating are all routines that require you to actively make the decision to practicing them, or they will simply stop.
“Both habits and routines are regular
and repeated actions”
Anne-Laure Le Cunff, American Historian
Some essential habits
Being future oriented requires us to actively allocate time to think. This means reflecting on change and new developments, imagining how they could impact our society, business, organisation and community, as well as individuals.
A positive commitment to being proactive, not reactive, is an essential trait of the futurist. This takes considerable discipline, since it is all too easy to become stuck in day-to-day operations rather than planning ahead.
Flexing your changemaker muscle means you begin to lead rather than just follow – a critical part of futurist thinking. In the beginning, it requires a very active and conscious effort to create good routines and inspiring rituals. Over time, it will become second nature, requiring minimal investment because you will automatically consider the future on a day-to-day basis.
Rituals are about the subjective experience of a task or a routine. With rituals, you are fully engaged and focus on the experience of the task, rather than just its completion. When you become mindful about routines, they can turn into rituals. A daily walk can become a creative boost or keeping a journal can become a wellbeing ritual.
“We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit”
Will Durant, American historian
LISTEN
THINK 04 Habits of the futurist (Audio 8:28)
WATCH
Learn some essential futurist habits. These skills, habits and rituals have been cultivated over time. They will enable you to adapt new and inspired thinking about the future.
Developing a futurist mindset
When you practise your futurist rituals, effort diminishes and they can become a habit. Not all will work for you – the idea is for you to cherry-pick, modify or potentially add new ones that suit you, as you develop your futurist mindset.
Try them out one or two steps at a time – new thinking and a good habit isn’t developed overnight. Start by reading and studying The Habits and Rituals of a Futurist list [the pdf further down the page], then develop routines and habits around the concepts presented in the guide. Then go back and pick the ones you find appealing and adapt them to your existing routines. Over time, you will develop your own personal list.
Remember that you will develop a futurist mindset from your point of departure – so whether you are an architect, a business leader, a marketing executive or an analyst or urban planner (and the list goes on), there is also a futurist within you.
BONUS INFO: Practice your way into mastery
So what does it take to become an expert, a master in your field, as a futurist? Malcolm Gladwell popularised the idea of 10,000 hours’ practice in his bestseller Outliers: The Story of Success. It’s a catchy rule, even if it is not completely true. Still, the important thing to take away is that mastery will take time and practise.
In the following, we take a closer look at tried and tested ways to train your futurist mindset and practice your way into mastery.
“We first make our habits,
and then our habits make us”
John Dryden, English poet
Forming habits to cultivate an open mindset
We are the sum of our habits; first we make our habits, and then our habits make us. What we repeatedly do shapes our days, our body and our mind – our work and our outlook. Habits are created over time, and some studies found it takes on average 66 days to form a new habit.
If you haven’t started to think about the future yet, now is the time. Build up from small habits – this is key to making them stick. You probably already practise some – or a lot – of the habits in our guide, but if you don’t, start small to begin cultivating your futurist mindset. A common mistake people make is trying to change a particular behaviour without keeping an eye on the person you need to become to make that new habit work.
“Time magnifies the margin between success
and failure. It will multiply what you feed it.
Good habits, make time your ally.
Bad habits make time your enemy”
James Clear, author Atomic Habits
Curiosity and imagination are the defining superpower when forming new habits. 95% of habits are automated, freeing up the brain to do other tasks. However, to change them we try to use conscious force – will power. This is obviously hard to do and anybody can fail. Imagination helps us bridge the conscious and unconscious efforts in changing habits. Imagining the person you will become if you persist keeps your mind on the ball and is instrumental for a successful change.
Making the future happen
Everything is interconnected, so multidimensional thinking helps us navigate change and complexity. Anyone can be a positive changemaker BUT it starts with making the decision to take ownership of the future you want to create.
Think in terms of creating ‘new ideas’, rather than restricting yourself to ‘expanding business’ opportunities. This frees you to test inspiring concepts and explore truly fresh thinking, while along the way, you are free to abandon the ideas that don’t work. That’s how design thinking works, ongoing iteration and learning by doing.
Dream big and tell inspiring stories on your journey. It will help people relate both to you and to your ideas. The more you work at bringing your imagination into play, the easier it becomes. Remember, the future is not just somewhere we go – we create the future.
“Never give up on a dream just because of
the time it will take to accomplish it.
The time will pass anyway“
Earl Nightingale, American author
The Habits and Rituals of a Futurist
DOWNLOAD
WATCH
This animated summary of Stephen Covey’s book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – looks the habits and how to put them into action to achieve greater focus and flow.
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE: The Habits of a Futurist
