Write Your Future Life Story

I was de-cluttering my study this afternoon and came across some papers from more than a decade ago. They were from some discussions and tests I'd had with a university careers counsellor about what would be a good career for me when I went back to work after spending time with my baby son.

The careers service did the usual sort of thing - analyse your strengths your preferences and your qualifications, and then come up with some suggestions to suit you. It was very interesting looking back to see whether I had changed, whether my hopes and ambitions had altered, and whether I still wanted the same thing now as I did then.

To cut a long story short, I didn't end up in the career that was suggested as the best fit for me, which was a citizens' advice adviser, but I did end up with two careers that were also a highly scoring fit - FE teaching and writing - both of which I'd been involved in before.

The really intriguing thing is that lots of people believe that the way to make things happen is to write them down. If you want to create or manifest something for the future, what you do is write about it as if you have it or are doing it, and imagine very strongly the emotions that you will feel.

It's an appealing thought and possibly worth a try. Whether or not you actually manage to bring this future into existence by doing this, it will surely clarify your preferences and your intentions, which can be no bad thing.

So instead of writing the life story of your past, try writing about your future. Imagine what you'd like your life to be like in ten years' time and write about it, feeling the associated emotions as strongly as you can. Don't worry about whether your future life is feasible or try to figure out how you could possibly bring it about. Just imagine it and feel the emotions you would have if you were living that life.

Then put your life story away somewhere safe. Don't forget to look at it when the ten years are up and see if your life has turned out the way you imagined it would.