“Future presence” is a vital state that visionary entrepreneurs use to see their future lives and be their future selves.

Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and other great entrepreneurs can each articulate clearly what the future looks like before it becomes reality, and they spend more time thinking about and moving towards the future than returning to the past.

Do you have future presence? It’s a learned skill.

That’s how visionary leaders are able to create visionary movements where everyone shares the same future presence. That’s what Nelson Mandela, Gandhi and Martin Luther King achieved. Their dreams became reality.

When you shift your focus, you can shift the world.

The 3 STEPS to future presence:

STEP 1 – Think back 5 years to your past self. Picture yourself and write down who you were, what you did, how you thought, and who you surrounded yourself with. Look at your habits, your beliefs, your confidence and the results of your actions. Compare your past self to your present self, and see what’s changed. Realise your past self still exists in you today – and is called your memory.

STEP 2 – Think forward 5 years to your future self. Picture yourself and write down who you have become, what you are doing, how you think differently, and who you are now surrounding yourself with. Look at your new habits, beliefs, confidence and the results of your actions. Think big. Be uncompromising. Compare your future self to your present (and past) self, and see what’s changed. Realise your future self already exists in you today – and is called your vision.

STEP 3 – Every day, get your present self to consult your future self – Instead of going to your past self for future advice and direction, go to your future self.

Every day, take another step towards your future vision. Every time you get drawn back to your memory of how things were, and of what’s not possible, refocus at your vision and how things will be, and of what’s inevitable. Never lose sight of the invisible.

“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” ~ Carl Jung

In time, your vision becomes stronger than your memory. When your vision becomes stronger than your memory, your future self will become more true than your past self.

When you are more true to your future self than your past self, your future becomes more present than your past. Then, through the many thousands of shift in focus and action you take, it’s only a matter of time before your future becomes your present.

If it’s so simply, why doesn’t everyone do it? Because it takes ongoing commitment and perseverance to daily practice.

It’s already happening to each of us – the present you’re living today is the direct result of all your actions that led to today. We’re all the designers of our lives. It’s just that most of us have designed our futures accidentally, not deliberately. You can change that today.

“The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”