We live in a world that’s constantly yammering about the future. It’s been Christmas since August. US midterm elections aren’t final yet, but pundits are already projecting 2024 results.
And if you don’t have your year-ahead plan by now, you’re screwed.
Anxious yet?
On the flip side, you can choose to live solely in the present. After all, new research shows mindful meditation can be as effective as Lexapro for treating anxiety. Plus, as the spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle notes, ruminating on the future is futile; it’s all about the power of now.
The present moment is all you ever have. There is never a time when your life is not “this moment.”
That is both a true and a confounding observation. How do you plan things if you’re only in the here and now? A doctor’s appointment, a trip to visit family during the holidays, a five-year business strategy?
Don’t panic because there’s a middle way forward that can be found in the wisdom of the past.
Committed Unattachment
Eastern philosophy often speaks about non-attachment. To our modern Western minds, that can be interpreted as abject detachment and a license to procrastinate to the point of inaction.
But the ancients didn’t mean you shouldn’t care about making progress. In fact, sages from Vedic and Buddhist traditions advocated for meaningful work and committed service. The unattachment aspect was about the outcome.
This is one of the key lessons from the sacred text, the Bhagavad Gita — to give yourself with full devotion to your life’s purpose, but then to “let go of the fruits.”
This allows you to throw yourself wholeheartedly into a plan or project without falling apart if it doesn’t work out. And it grants you the fortitude to keep calm and carry on.
A Stoic Approach
Likewise, the Stoics also advocated focusing on what you have dominion over — not the results. For example, philosopher Epictetus’ “reserve clause” (“hupexhairesis”) was all about how control is an illusion, writing:
When you’re about to embark on any action, remember what kind of action it is. If you’re going out to take a bath, set before your mind the things that happen at the baths, that people splash you, that people knock up against you, that people steal from you.
In other words, accept that the only thing you can safely predict is that shit happens. That knowledge saves you anxiety and agita while empowering you with the flexibility and resilience necessary to keep going, as Brian always says.
Ultimately what you know is only in the now: your intent and convictions. And that’s all you need to drive you to what’s next.
Committed & Unattached: A Powerful Way to Work (Zen Habits)
The Stoic Reserve Clause: Actions Don’t Always Go to Plan (Exploring Your Mind)
