How to Avoid Future Tripping
TL;DR
As the summer winds down and you find yourself gearing up to get back into the swing of things this fall, it's important to be mindful of the present moment and not get caught up in anxiously overthinking the future.
Future tripping, or “anticipatory anxiety” is a natural defense mechanism that happens when our minds try to over-engineer the future in an attempt to try and control its outcome.
Now if you've worked with me you know that I'm big on artists taking back what control they can in an otherwise elusive and unpredictable industry.
Controlling what is in your control is an important practice.
But trying to overthink your anxiety about the future into submission?
Futile at its best; harmful at its worst.
Our bodies NEED rest and recovery and non-doing time in order to fuel our best and yes, most productive selves. This isn't news — you've definitely heard it before.
And if you're still skeptical, you can Google one of the half a million articles about how Lin-Manuel Miranda conceptualized Hamilton on vacation. But forget writing a smash Broadway hit — you've spent the last few years surviving a pandemic followed by two industry-wide strikes.
Your body deserves space and time to catch up before you go back to all the doing.
I had a teacher friend confess to me once that she spent her entire family trip to Hawaii rewriting her syllabus in her head! We're conditioned to be constantly on the ball and on to the next thing.
We wear it as a badge of honor. Aim higher, do more, move the goalposts.
The older I get, the less and less this rings true for me.
So, whether you're still on vacation, transitioning back to work, uncertain of what you're even doing for work, or the end of summer is about to hit you like a ton of bricks and you're knee-deep in unpacking moving boxes and your kids are still not back in school for another week (hi, hello, it's me) — I want to encourage you to be where your feet are.
If you find yourself (like so many of us) trying to will yourself to get focused but instead spiraling into the “should be"-s of your life, try doing a physical task or activity without distraction. I mean it.
I'm simplifying here, but there's an old Buddhist practice of doing the thing you're doing while you're doing it. We are so used to listening to a podcast while we walk or cooking while we're on a phone call.
Try to do one thing a day that's mentally JUST the thing.
Really do the dishes while you do the dishes.
Sit in the park and scan the horizon while you sit in the park.
There will be time enough for multitasking and hyper-planning, so take these last few weeks of August to get present.
And what’s on our plate this Fall?
As you may have heard last week, we're excited to announce that enrollment is now open for The Creative Path Fall Intensive!
Meet with me weekly for 13 weeks to ensure that you not only start The Creative Path on-demand course with purpose and power, but that you FINISH strong and with an entire community of like-minded creatives cheering you on.
This is our most popular time of the year, so grab your spot before it's too late!
Date: September 17th - December 17th
Time: Tuesdays, 12:00pm -1:00pm EST
Instructor: Betsy Capes
Where: Zoom
This program is a big commitment of time and we understand that you may have questions. In order to join an upcoming Intensive, you are required to participate in a group Q&A session or a one-on-one consultation call with me to ensure this experience is right for you.
We have upcoming Q&A sessions on the following dates:
Wednesday 8/28 @ 9pm EST
Wednesday 9/4 @ 8pm EST
Thursday 9/5 @ 12pm EST
Click here to learn more about The Creative Path and to sign up for a group Q&A session or a one-on-one phone chat with me.
Looking forward to supporting you!