You don’t need to be psychic to tell your own future. It’s actually pretty easy. Here is how:

1. Lock yourself in your room and spend 30 minutes taking slow and deep breaths
2. Get a piece of paper.
3. Write down whatever thoughts enter your mind for 15 minutes.
4. Read it back to yourself.

Guess what. Whatever you read- THAT will be your future!

This is BS- right?

No, it’s not BS. It’s reasonable. Think about it. After you take the time to let yourself become calm and relaxed, by breathing, or by spending time in nature, or whatever else, you go and write on a piece of paper. The kind of thoughts that crop up in your mind at that time are going to be the most predominant and forceful thoughts that you have been thinking in your life. These are the thoughts that are ever ready to come back to the surface of your mind, even though you just spent some time making it calm. These are the thoughts that have dug deeper grooves in your brain, through habit, that make it easy to go back to them, again and again.

That doesn’t mean those thoughts will be my future though, does it?

Not necessarily. But if everything in your life stays the way it is now, then those thoughts will be a very strong indication of your future.

“Your thoughts are the architects of your destiny.”

It should be clear that thoughts have a tremendous effect on our future. Say for example you think that you would like to eat food today. Chances are that you are going to find a way to eat food today! No one can deny that thought controls our future. To say if does not is pure fatalism.

Of course, thought does not exclusively determine our future. Our will power can be likened to a leashed animal, tied to a pole. Using its will power, the animal can walk around. However, it can only go so far as the leash allows. The will is not entirely free.

But I always hear it called “free will”?

Not quite.

What if I don’t like the future I have just read to myself?

Change it. You can, if you want. Most people don’t try very hard. Say for example, your thoughts from this exercise express lots of worry about the future. Or they express lots of regret about the past. Or they are full of negative self talk. They say that you lack confidence, or they say that the obstacles between you and what you want to achieve are too big. If you have these kinds of thoughts, your future looks pretty unpleasant. But you have to realize that these thoughts didn’t dig grooves into your brain all by themselves. You helped them! You made them, and you can unmake them.

So thoughts are the result of habit?

That’s correct. By thinking the same thing over and over, you have convinced yourself that these thoughts are true. In the same way that we make bad mental habits, we can undo them, by instead channeling our energy towards making good mental habits.

Are you saying that I can alter my future?

Yes. By being extremely positive, by making healthy choices, by careful consideration, by fostering self confidence, by cheerfulness, and by continuous effort, you can control your future.

But you said that our willpower is limited, like an animal tied to a leash?

Yes, that is true. The leash may be very short now. That is only because we have allowed our power of will to atrophy, by disuse. When your willpower goes unused, the leash gets shorter. When the leash gets shorter, the power to struggle against negative thought declines. When that power declines, these negative thoughts will find it easier to dig footholds in mind. It is a vicious cycle.

So if I can prevent the leash from getting shorter, can I also help make the leash longer?

Exactly. Through protracted effort, the will becomes strong. Our ability to fight through obstacles increases. Our leash becomes lengthened. Furthermore, our efforts make us more resourceful human beings. We gain more skills and knowledge. We understand the workings of the world better. We make powerful friends. These are all tools that serve to give us additional power to alter out future. Our efforts bear exponential return. The stronger the will, the easier it is to change habits. The faster we overcome habits, the easier it is to strengthen the will. It is a helpful cycle.

Seriously, can I really control my future?

Yes. Externally you may not get exactly what you want, but internally you can gain almost complete control over what goes on. Struggle hard for seven years and see if your mind and your life have not changed to your great advantage. Anyone who really wants to can do it. Most people, however, do not want that. It’s easier to run in the same mental ruts over and over again. It’s easier to follow the path of least resistance. Very few have the needed zeal to overturn the backward workings of the mind. If in seven years, you regret the results of your efforts, I’ll let you clean out my bank account.

In one word, what should I do to have a desirable future?

“Cauterize the cants.”

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