Are You a Forward-Looking Person? (Take the Test)

Are You a Forward-Looking Person? (Take the Test)

The Illusion of Balance

Let me ask you something. When was the last time you felt truly in control? When everything was perfectly balanced, predictable, and stable? If you’re like most people, you’re probably chasing that feeling. You’re trying to build a life where nothing goes wrong, where all the pieces fit together in a neat, orderly puzzle. You want equilibrium.

Well, I’m here to tell you that you’re chasing a ghost. Equilibrium is a damn mirage in the desert of reality. It’s a state that doesn’t exist for living things. In fact, the only time you’ll ever reach perfect equilibrium is when you’re dead. Think about it. A rock is in equilibrium. A corpse is in equilibrium. A living, breathing, evolving human being? Not a chance.

We’ve been sold a bill of goods. We’ve been taught to believe that the goal of life is to find balance, to eliminate chaos, and to resist change. We’re told to plan for a future that’s just a slightly better version of the present. This is, to put it bluntly, bullshit. It’s a recipe for stagnation and, ultimately, extinction. The universe doesn’t care about your five-year plan. It’s a chaotic, unpredictable, and constantly evolving system. And you’re a part of it.

Reflecting on my own past, I realize how often I resisted change and clung to familiar patterns, even when they no longer served me. I made countless decisions aimed at protecting my ego and maintaining control, not fully understanding that this resistance was holding me back. It was only after facing significant challenges that I began to see how these choices contributed to my struggle, setting the stage for the difficult but necessary transformation that followed.

I was devastated. I felt like a failure. I had done everything right, and it had all gone wrong. It was only later, after I had hit rock bottom, that I began to see the truth. My plan was the problem. My obsession with control was the problem. I was trying to build a fortress in the middle of a hurricane. It was a fool’s errand.

The Problem with Looking Backwards

Most of us are what I call Backward-Looking People, or BLPs. You might be one of them. BLPs are obsessed with the past. They’re constantly trying to recreate what worked before, to hold on to what they know, and to resist anything new or different. When faced with a crisis, a BLP’s first instinct is to try and go back to the way things were. They’re like a thermostat, constantly trying to maintain a set temperature, even when the world outside is on fire.

This backward-looking mindset is a trap. It’s a prison of your own making. The past doesn’t exist. It’s a memory, a story you tell yourself. The only thing that’s real is the present moment and the relentless, unforgiving arrow of time pulling us into the future. By focusing on the past, you’re not only wasting your energy, you’re actively working against the fundamental laws of the universe.

“The arrow of time is a one-way street. You can’t go back. You can only go forward.”

This isn’t just some philosophical mumbo-jumbo. This is hard science. It’s a concept that was drilled into me by my mentor, the late, great Dr. Bob Melamede. He was a brilliant, stoned-out hippie with a PhD in biochemistry who saw the world in a way that most people couldn’t. He taught me about far-from-equilibrium thermodynamics, a field of science that explains how life not only exists in chaos, but thrives in it.

Dr. Bob used to say that BLPs are like people who are driving a car while looking in the rearview mirror. They’re so focused on what’s behind them that they don’t see the cliff that’s right in front of them. And eventually, they drive right off it. It’s a tragic, and entirely avoidable, fate.

The Application: Are You a FLP or a BLP?

So, what does this all mean for you? It means you have a choice. You can be a Backward-Looking Person, a BLP, and spend your life fighting against the current, trying to recreate a past that no longer exists. Or you can be a Forward-Looking Person, a FLP, and learn to embrace the chaos, to adapt to the unexpected, and to flow with the river of time.

Here’s a little test to help you figure out where you stand:

• When you’re faced with a major life change (a new job, a new relationship, a new city), is your first instinct to resist it or to embrace it?
• Do you spend more time thinking about the past or the future?
• Are you more comfortable with a detailed plan or with a general direction?
• Do you see challenges as threats or as opportunities?
• Are you more afraid of failure or of stagnation?

There are no right or wrong answers here. But your answers will give you a clue as to whether you’re living your life as a FLP or a BLP. If you’re a BLP, don’t despair. It’s not a life sentence. It’s a habit, a pattern of thinking that you can change. It starts with a simple decision: to stop looking backwards and to start looking forwards.

It makes me laugh to reflect upon some of the choices I've made in my former life. Man was I a fucking idiot! I used to resist change; I used to hold on to things that were not; I made horrendous decisions every day, all in the effort to preserve my ego and resist change.

The Takeaway: How to Become a Forward-Looking Person

Becoming a Forward-Looking Person is not about being reckless or impulsive. It’s about being adaptable, resilient, and open to the possibilities of the future. It’s about learning to dance with the chaos, to find the opportunities in the challenges, and to trust in your ability to self-organize and to evolve.

Here are a few practical things you can do to start cultivating a forward-looking mindset:

1. Embrace uncertainty. Stop trying to control everything. Accept that the future is unknowable and that’s okay. In fact, it’s more than okay. It’s what makes life interesting.
2. Practice adaptability. The next time you’re faced with a challenge, don’t resist it. Lean into it. Ask yourself, “What can I learn from this? How can I use this to grow?”
3. Nourish your endocannabinoid system. This is the system that helps you adapt to stress and to change. Things like exercise, meditation, and, yes, cannabis, can all help to keep this system in balance.
4. Study the science. The more you understand the principles of far-from-equilibrium thermodynamics, the more you’ll see that this isn’t just a philosophy. It’s a fundamental law of the universe.
5. Surround yourself with FLPs. Find people who are adaptable, resilient, and open to the future. Their energy will be contagious.
6. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Growth and comfort do not coexist. If you want to evolve, you have to be willing to step outside of your comfort zone.

Closing

Being a Forward-Looking Person is not easy. It takes courage, it takes vulnerability, and it takes a willingness to let go of the illusion of control. But the alternative is so much worse. The alternative is stagnation, decay, and a life lived in the rearview mirror.

So, I’ll ask you again. Are you a Forward-Looking Person? The answer to that question will determine the course of the rest of your life. Choose wisely.

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