196 | Thoughts About the Future

The way you think about your future is critical to achieving the goals you have for your future.

The issue is many of us go to the negative and believe our goals are impossible or that things won’t work out for us.

You have to believe that the things you want can and will happen before you’ll ever achieve them.

In this episode, let’s talk about the danger of negative thoughts about the future and the best way to get to the future you want.

• • the link between your present actions and your thoughts about the future
  • the way we tend to think about the future
  • aligning your thoughts with the future you want
  • thinking about the future in a way that serves you

You’re listening to Wealthyesq. We are a community of lawyers who believe that true wealth is having control of our time. I’m Rho Thomas, and as a busy wife, mom, and former Biglaw associate, I know all too well the tension between the culture of the legal profession and pretty much everything else you want to do in life. That’s why each week, I’m bringing you the information and tools you need to improve your money mindset and manage your money to create true wealth. Because ultimately, it’s not about the money. It’s about the freedom and flexibility the money affords.

Hey friend. Welcome back to the show. I hope you’re doing well and having an amazing day so far. Today we are talking about thoughts about the future, the importance of the way you think about the future. What we think about the future is so important to what we do in the present. The things that we believe about the future, inform the things that we do in the present and the things we do in the present shape our future they are connected. So if we have a specific idea of the future we want, we need to do things in the present that move us toward that future. But in order to do things in the present that move us toward that future. We have to make sure that things we think about that future are aligned. What do I mean by that? It is very common to go to negative thoughts about the future. So we will believe that things that we’re going to do will never work. We believe that we’re going to fail. We believe that this thing that we want isn’t gonna happen, that it’s possible for other people, but not for us. And if we bring it to finances, specifically, we will tell ourselves things like, Oh, I’ll never get out of debt, or we’ll read or hear a story about something that someone else did with their finances. And we’ll think that we could never do that too. Right. Like they could do that because they have this super special circumstances. I don’t have so I can’t do that. If the future you want is less debt and more money in the bank, those kinds of thoughts are not aligned with that future, right thinking that it’s never going to happen for you that you’ll never get out of debt that other people are doing it because they have something that you will have that is not aligned with the future that you have or that you want because when you believe those thoughts about the future, that is never gonna work, it’s gonna fail or whatever, you’re going to feel really discouraged and you’re gonna think anything that you do will be pointless anyway. So you know, why even try? And so you’re not going to do the things you need to do in the present to get to that future you want. But it’s all because you’re thinking that the future you want is impossible for you or that you’re going to fail to get there. Do you see what I mean when I say the present and the future are linked like you need to take certain actions in the present to achieve a particular goal you have for the future, but you’re never going to take those actions. If you have negative thoughts about the future and you don’t believe it’s gonna work out and all that kind of stuff. So then it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, where I believe it’s not going to work so then I don’t do the things I need to do to make it work and then I become the reason that it doesn’t work. The thing is, the future doesn’t exist. It is only in our minds. Anything that we think about the future is completely made up because we have no idea what’s gonna happen. And so if we’re making it all up anyway, it does not help you to tell yourself that you’re never gonna get out of debt, or you’re never going to get out of the paycheck to paycheck cycle, or that your plans are never going to work or this strategy worked for that person, but it’s not gonna work for me. That doesn’t help anything. So just, why not think positive thoughts about the future? So why not believe that the strategy is going to lead to the results you want? Why not believe that you will figure this out? Why not believe that it is completely possible for you to pay off your debt? Why not believe that the thing you saw work for that other person is going to work for you too, because when that’s the way you’re thinking about the future, you’re going to do the things you need to do to make it work. You’re gonna take the steps you need to take to pay off your debt or to save more, or whatever the goal is for you. You’re going to move toward the future that you want because you believe that future is actually available to you. You believe that it’s possible to achieve and therefore you do the things you need to do in the present to get to that future. That doesn’t mean that everything is always going to work out perfectly right there. might still be setbacks along the way, things might not go as quickly as you want them to, but you’re going to get a whole lot closer to that future wouldn’t have positive thoughts about the future versus when you’re believing it’s never gonna work, because then you’ll actually take the steps and the present that get you there. So all that to say what you believe about the future is critically important to achieving the things you want to achieve in the future. It never helps to think that something that you want to accomplish is impossible or that you can’t do it or that it won’t work. All that’s going to do is to start with you. It’s going to keep you from even trying to do and if you’ve never even tried you automatically fail. Believe that the things that you want to do are possible for you believe that your plans are going to work that you will be debt free, that you will build your emergency fund. Believe in the future that you want because the thoughts you have about that future are going to inform what you do in the present and whether you take the steps necessary to get there. Any thoughts we have about the future is made up anyway. So if you’re going to make something up, make it something that serves you. Alright, so that is it for this week’s episode. Please take a second and share this episode with a friend or two who you think will find it useful. That helps us to spread the information and get it in the hands of more lawyers and I greatly appreciate your support. As we close out friend, I pray that you take the information you learn here, apply it in your life and open up to the realization that wealth is available to you. Consistently week after week you’ll continue to take steps to regain control of your time, build wealth and live a life of freedom of choice you deserve. Talk to you later.