Shownotes
Welcome to Day 1503 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Crafting A Futuristic Mindset – Ask Gramps
Wisdom - the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek! Where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend; I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. Today is Day 1503 of our Trek, and our focus on Fridays is the future technological and societal advances, so we call it Futuristic Fridays. My personality is one that has always been very future-oriented. Since my childhood, I have yearned for the exploration and discovery of new technologies and advancements for the future. I grew up with the original Star Trek series, and even today, as I am now on my 65th revolution around the sun, I still dream of traveling in space. Each week we will explore rapidly converging technologies and advancements, which will radically change our lives. At times, the topics may sound like something out of a science fiction novel, but each area that we explore is already well on its way of becoming a reality over the next couple of decades.
To keep with our theme of “Ask Gramps,” I will put our weekly topics in the form of a question to get us on track. This week’s question is, Hey Gramps, how can I create and maintain a mindset that is future-oriented while staying focused on what is essential for today?
Crafting a Futuristic Mindset
Last week we focused on turning Sick Care into Well Care. This week let us look at what it takes to be future-oriented while maintaining a focus on what is essential today. I am using some of the information mentioned in Peter Diamandis’s blogs and book “The Future is Faster Than You Think.”
While business and material success is not the most important determining factor of overall success, it is an indicator of a focused life. So let me ask you a question. What made Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, or Elon Musk succeed? Was it their technology or their mindset?
Personally, I think mindset is an entrepreneur’s most critical asset. Yet few of us ever take the time to craft it -- to purposefully select and sharpen the mindset(s) we desire.
Your mindset is the filter through which you see the world. It determines how you spend your time, what decisions you make, and where you invest your resources.
I’ve been asked whether I’ve always had an Abundance mindset and an Exponential mindset over the years. The answer is yes, and no. They are both mindsets that are part of my personality, but I’ve crafted and honed my mindset progressively over the past 40+ years.
So how do you craft and reinforce a mindset? Which mindsets are the most exciting for me? These are the questions we will explore today.
Let’s dive in…
HOW MINDSETS WORK...
Before choosing which mindset(s) to focus on, it helps to understand how mindsets work.
Here’s an analogy: if you’ve been following Artificial Intelligence developments, you know that we can train neural nets to do image recognition. The challenge with these neural nets is that they’re only as good as the data you feed them.
For example, if you show the neural nets thousands of pictures of cats and show them a picture of a dog, the algorithm will tell you that the dog is actually a cat. It doesn’t know any better.
The same is true for our brains, which are also a type of neural net. If you continuously feed your mind with negative perspectives, your outlook will be negative. You won’t know any better. So my question to you is, how are you training your neural net?
Most of us don’t realize that we’re doing this training. It operates in the background. For example, you train your mind constantly through social media echo chambers or our daily news intake of CNN (Crisis News Network), Fox, or any of the mainstream media outlets.
Taking an active approach to understanding and crafting mindsets is crucial for me, and I’ve made it the fundamental underpinning of my daily life. So, what shapes your mindset? What are the things that have you trapped thinking the way you do? What would you need to change?
CRAFTING YOUR MINDSET...
The two key inputs that shape our mindsets are: the people we spend time with and the media we consume.
Your life is significantly impacted by those who you go through life with. There’s an old saying in business that you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
If you want to be physically fit, hang out with friends who exercise.
If you want to think big and aspire to change the world, hang out with people who have a vision and a massively transformative purpose (MTP).
As it used to be said of computers, Garbage in, garbage out. Just as you are the average of the five people you spend most, the same is valid for ideas.
The news and media we consume are data that we allow to flow into our brains. That is to say, our neural nets. What is your news diet? What kind of movies or documentaries are you watching? What books, blogs, or podcasts are you consuming? Does your daily media intake consist of time studying God’s Word?
Do these inputs reinforce the mindsets you want? Or do they reinforce mindsets you’re trying to avoid?
As an independent thinker and an entrepreneur, answering these questions is a critical part of your journey to succeed during this exponential change era.
The next step on that journey is choosing the mindset(s) that works best for you.
SELECTING YOUR MINDSET...
There are MANY mindsets you can choose from. Below there are six specific future-oriented mindsets that I find most powerful and essential to hone during this era of exponential growth.
- Abundance Mindset: You have clarity, evidence, and conviction that technology is dematerializing, demonetizing, and democratizing products and services, creating increasing abundance on a global scale.
- Exponential Mindset: You understand that computation and derivative technologies (AI, VR, 3D Printing, etc.) are growing exponentially. Thirty doublings drive a billion-fold improvement that the human (linear) mind finds difficult to grasp.
- Longevity Mindset: You are focused on maximizing your health span, tracking the biotech breakthroughs able to add 20 to 30 healthy years onto your life, and making “100 years old the new 60.” You seek key insights and early access.
- Moonshot Mindset: You understand that most people are focused on incremental (10%) growth, but you seek 10x Moonshot growth. You desire tools and techniques that enable you to select and implement your Moonshots.
- Purpose/Passion-driven Mindset: You seek to find, refine, or update your massively transformative purpose (MTP), which allows you to live a passion-driven life. You seek tools and a community to amplify and support your MTP.
- Gratitude Mindset: You recognize how providential blessed you are personally and professionally, and you take the time to acknowledge your blessings to God and others. With this in mind, you have created routines in your day that allow you to reflect on this. As a result of your gratitude, you share your abundance with those in your life in a way that brings you joy and uplifts those around you.
What mindsets do you choose? Can you imagine the benefits of having an Exponential and Abundance Mindset? Would it help flip the way you see things? Instead of seeing a problem, can you see an opportunity? Remember that the world’s biggest challenges are also the world’s most significant opportunities.
As Christ-followers, we must live in a manner that reflects a rich and satisfying life. We must minimize the harmful intake and maximize that, which is good. We must control our minds so that they are both future-oriented while staying focused on the positive impact that we can have on others today. Here are a couple of verses that will help you with your mindset.
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.
That is a wrap for today’s question. Join us again next Futuristic Friday as we look at another exciting exponential technology area on our ‘Ask Gramps’ episode. Our next trek is Meditation Monday, where we will help you reflect on what is most important in life. So encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along on Monday for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’
If you would like to listen to any of the past 1502 daily treks or read the associated journals, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day will be downloaded to you automatically.
Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, but most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you in through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.
As we take this Trek of life together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ’Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday’! See you on Monday!