Daily Inspiration: Being Your Own Futurist – “Imagine tomorrow. Today!”

“Imagine Tomorrow. Today.” – Futurist Jim Carroll

“What do you do for a living?”

That’s a common question that we all get, and to be honest, I’ve long struggled to provide a succinct answer. A few of my more common quick intros to the topic: “I go out and talk to large groups of hungover people.” “You know that guy on stage – ya, I’m that guy?” “I’m like a motivational speaker but I focus on real stuff.” But that of course leads me down the path of what it is I do; I’m an author, a columnist, and a speaker. Then I mention the word ‘futurist’, and sometimes I get a quizzical look. Some folks have an actual idea of what a ‘futurist’ does, having seen someone on stage in that role; some have even seen me at a conference here or there. In other cases, they perceive an odd cultish-incantation-based oddity dreaming up crazy science fiction scenarios in a weird bat-cave-like facility.

This leads me to the next part of the conversation, and I’ll often run to my go-to phrase – “I help people imagine tomorrow. Today.”  … I’ll launch into how I do this through research, a simple thought process, experience, and more, and give the names of a few organizations that have booked me for this type of insight. Mentioning NASA, Disney, and the World Bank usually manages to get them to realize I’m quite serious about what I do.

I’ve always liked the phrase “Imagine tomorrow. Today.” It’s the message I worked into the intro section of a new, short promo video I’d been working on.