Where do you see yourself in five years time? It´s a question that is asked all the time. That simple trend itself is indicative of the current cultural zeitgeist. By the simple practice of consistently asking ourselves such motivational questions as “Where are we going? What will we be doing? How much will we be earning? we set up a creative tension between the current reality and our personal vision of success. We take it for granted that wherever we will be in five years from now, it will be somewhere better than here. So how can pyschology help us achieve our goals?
Discontent with our present circumstances is one of the main spurs to self-advancement and this arises from a continual need to compare ourselves with others and to possess, as they do, the cultural symbols of our age, the latest technology, fad or fashion, which always seem to be just out of reach. It´s not a bad thing to have ambition, to try and navigate a path to our goals via a realistic and achievable five year plan, but whether we wish to be richer or just more “world-conscious”, famous or just “a better person”, the resulting conflict between who we are and who we might become is real and sometimes disquieting.
However there is a way, using psychology, to drive ourselves forward to new levels, while at the same time keeping our feet on the ground. The key is to embrace the separation between reality and potentiality in a positive and life-enhancing way. This requires maturity and self-knowledge. Self-knowledge is the process by which you get to know the “real you”. This is the one constant that will remain unchanged over the next five years, so the better acquainted you are with “yourself” the less likely you are to be derailed from your goals.
Getting to know the “real you” sets up a defence against a possible shortfall of the “professional you”. Since our expectations are governed by signals we receive on a daily basis from family, friends, work and the media, these days a frenetic activity, the better we know ourselves the better we can deal with the creative tension that ensues. By dealing with this chaotic bombardment on a personal level not a professional one, analyzing it, filtering it and dispensing with it as we choose, we leave our professional exterior free to be cultivated in a way which will best guarantee success.
So the person going to that next work meeting is divided in two. The hero who will succeed in everything they set out to achieve, and the human being who will survive no matter what. By embracing this dichotomy early on in life, the tension between who you are and who you might become vanishes for good.
