Future Patterns

“You look at where you’re going and where you are and it never makes sense, but then you look back at where you’ve been and a pattern seems to emerge.” Robert Pirsig

I think about that at times along the road of The Dan Plan. From day to day it often doesn’t make much sense as far as knowing exactly where I am at that specific moment or what needs to be worked on, but then when I look back at the end of the month or as another 100 hours passes and the retrospective path is always moving in the right direction. It can be easy, though, to get overwhelmed by the vastness of large projects and I am often asked if the idea of having 4+ years remaining is hard to handle. For me, I don’t look at the future and wonder how I can climb that mountain at this specific moment. The future will happen regardless of what any one of us does and we can either work towards a goal or not. I am much more concerned with what I need to be doing today than how I might hypothetically feel years from now. The present can be much more overwhelming than the future.

But, the present shouldn’t be overwhelming at all. It’s the time we have to work towards the future and if you are trying to push yourself in any way then the future will be changed for the better. That’s it. As far as I can tell, that is the secret to success. It’s not focussing on the past/future intangibles, but working on something today. It can be anything at all. Whatever you are working on today is changing your future; creating the reality that you want. This can be as simple as a sit-up, a quick jog, an hour of putting, 45 minutes of programming, five bucks put into the bank, making a healthy dinner, studying for 10 extra minutes, writing a friend a letter, anything. We control this time and this time controls the future. We cannot know exactly where we are going in life, but there are countless things that we can do to positively influence where we might come out. Then, down the road, we can look back and see exactly how we got to where we wanted to be.

For me, I might not know exactly how to get from no golf experience to professional golfer, but years from now I will be able to look back at the paths I took and where I eventually end up will make complete sense.

Today is all we have to change our lives. What are you doing to create the future you want? I’d love to hear some comments on this.

13 Responses to "Future Patterns"

JC says:

May 20, 2012 at 5:34 pm

Nice Post
Fran G says:

May 20, 2012 at 7:07 pm

You hit it right on the screws. I love this attitude and this is a great reminder to live in the moment. I think it is difficult to implement in a situation where you don’t have passion, but even in those situations, this will be a tremendous help to achieving happiness.

Thanks Dan – keep up the great work!
Todd says:

May 20, 2012 at 8:40 pm

Overwhelming indeed! Great post!
Tony Lawrence says:

May 20, 2012 at 9:27 pm

Everyone only has now to live in. Too many people try to live in the past, or sit around thinking about what tomorrow may hold. But there is only one place to live in. The rest – imagination and reflection (re-invention?) – may be no bad thing. But there’s only now to live in.
Alex says:

May 20, 2012 at 9:29 pm

Agree with the others, great post Dan. Starting following this website as a golf fan, but find with each week there is so much more to get out of it than just that.
Liam says:

May 21, 2012 at 1:05 am

This post really cheered me up. I am currently working on night shift in a job which I find to be extremely frustrating (it is monkey work) and largely dissatisfying. But I work 14 nights then get two weeks off each month, which allows me to do unpaid work experience and to learn things that will (hopefully) allow me to move to something better. A couple of things that I have done on time off previously have now started to pay off (though not literally) and I really like the idea that I will look back on the bad bits of the last year and see a logic to it. As you say, sometimes it is easy to forget the big picture. So thanks, keep up good work! (also- “We control this time and this time controls the future”- great line.)
Robert says:

May 21, 2012 at 1:16 am

Another great post as usual Dan. I really want a future in golf so i am caddying part time here at Carnoustie and also working part time as an assistant in the Pro shop with the goal of getting my handicap down to 4 at least to do my PGA professional training. I’m not entirely set on the PGA pro route though but getting the handicap down is a must.. I would considering caddying full time for a couple of years. Summers here in Scotland and then across to the States to caddie in the winter time. I’m also going to the gym 5 times a week doing golf specific exercises and practicing or playing nearly everyday! I am golf mad haha. Your Plan is a definate inspiration to me. I got a personal trainer at the gym after watching your webisodes in December last year and it has definately had a positive impact on me. I almost feel as though we both have a similar sort of plan/ schedule going so i’m going to see if i can beat you to a scratch handicap haha Seriously though i’ve been golfing for 5 years now and have a handicap of 9 and watching your videos has made me think “Dan is an 8 handicap already after only two years?! I must try harder!” Thanks for the inspiration Dan.

Robert.
Brice Richard says:

May 21, 2012 at 5:22 am

I definitely live in the “now” but I also am very vigilant about “listening” to what the “universe” (and by universe I mean external events) may be telling me.

It’s a subjective exercise but all to often I have observed many people make important decisions based on INTERNALLY based events and not consider both what is happening internally and externally around you.

Do I plan for the future? Not really because I am driven by the now not by a very nebulous picture of what I think the future will be.

That doesn’t mean I don’t have a general picture plan of some future desired event but I certainly have never really “planned” anything in my life. I don’t think like that.

Having said that, I drive an $80K car, am getting paid to pursue my passion, and my health is extraordinary – not bad for a 45 year old guy who doesn’t plan things huh?
Martin says:

May 21, 2012 at 7:14 am

Totally agree. One phrase caught my eye … ’45 minutes of programming’ … what do you mean by that?
Another Dan says:

May 21, 2012 at 9:36 am

Your wise thoughts prompted me to turn back to Seneca, whose consideration of time still rings true thousands of years later. He has a little different take, but I thought you’d enjoy this excerpt from his essay “On the Shortness of Life.” See, e.g., http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/voices-in-time/back-to-the-future.php?page=all

A few choice excerpts:

Life is divided into three periods: past, present, and future. Of these, the present is short, the future is doubtful, the past is certain. For this last is the one over which Fortune has lost her power, which cannot be brought back to anyone’s control. But this is what preoccupied people lose: for they have no time to look back at their past, and even if they did, it is not pleasant to recall activities they are ashamed of. So they are unwilling to cast their minds back to times ill spent, which they dare not relive if their vices in recollection become obvious—even those vices whose insidious approach was disguised by the charm of some momentary pleasure. No one willingly reverts to the past unless all his actions have passed his own censorship, which is never deceived. . . .

The present time is extremely short, so much so that some people are unaware of it. For it is always on the move, flowing on in a rush; it ceases before it has come and does not suffer delay any more than the firmament or the stars, whose unceasing movement never pauses in the same place.

. . . . everybody agrees that no one pursuit can be successfully followed by a man who is preoccupied with many things—eloquence cannot, nor the liberal studies—since the mind, when distracted, takes in nothing very deeply . . . There is nothing the busy man is less busied with than living: there is nothing that is harder to learn.
Bert says:

May 21, 2012 at 3:40 pm

Great post Dan – best one yet!
Charlie says:

May 22, 2012 at 11:50 am

Time it was
And what at time it was.

It was…

A time of innocence.
A time of confidences.

Long ago, it must be
I have a photograph
Preserve your memories
They’re all that’s left you.

- Simon and Garfunkel, Bookends
Jeff D says:

May 22, 2012 at 11:58 am

I find it interesting, Dan, how your musings in this particular post could describe a philosophy for life or for a round of golf. This is a great philosophy for course management. Put simply, break it down into manageable chunks. Why think about how difficult a 480-yard par 4 is and pscyh yourself out? Just focus on putting your drive in the fairway. Then focus solely on putting your ball in the middle of the green. If you’re standing on the tee thinking about having to hit a 3-wood out of the rough if you miss the fairway, you’ll be hitting a 3-wood out of the rough for your second shot. Life is the same way. Focus on the step you’re on and the rest will take care of itself. Very insightful post.

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