Matt, Isaac Newton, and the Master Plan
Matt Had a Plan
My good friend Matt is a twenty-two year old geologist with an amazing job in Mali.
Before he left for Africa, he shared his master plan with me:
- Work for a year
- Pay off loans
- Save money
- Travel the world
- Get a Ph.D
By this time he’d be twenty-eight. He’d be in a relationship, ready for marriage and a bigger apartment.
Matt didn’t seem very happy about this plan. He wasn’t even sure he would want to be a geologist by then. But he insisted it was the right plan, and he was sticking to it.
So we did a little Treasure Hunting.
We created maps to several different futures that would be fulfilling, meaningful and make him happy. And as we did this, Matt realized that he had designed the next six years of his life to avoid living in cramped student housing with a woman he hasn’t even met.
Today, Matt’s excited about the many directions his life could take in the next decade. He has an idea to bring solar generators to villages in Africa. He imagines living in Latin America for a few years. He has a blog with great writing and photos; perhaps he’ll build a career around that. And of course, there may still be a doctorate, wedding bells and a big house in 2014.
Matt has options that didn’t exist when he was stuck on his plan. He can tell many stories about the many paths he could take. And as he moves through time he’ll take advantage of incredible opportunities that–resolutely following his plan–he would never have even seen.
Matt is now looking forward to a life beyond his wildest dreams.
Be sure to check out Matt’s blog for fantastic stories and photos of his Treasure Hunt.
Isaac Newton Had a Plan
We know how to shape the future: We just need to think hard enough, gather the right information, get all of our ducks in a row, and implement a plan the way we designed it.
And as long as we live in a predictable and controllable universe, this should work.
Isaac Newton believed this. You know, God is the great clockmaker, the universe is a big machine. And if Newton could just get the math right, he could figure out how the whole thing works.
For centuries, scientists, philosophers, social planners, management consultants, meteorologists, baseball managers and personal coaches have been in the business of predicting and controlling. It’s all about getting it right. You probably do it too:
If I just get everything right, then my party will come off as I planned, my relationship will go as I planned, my job search will go as I planned, my errands will go as I planned . . .
Sound familiar?
Here’s the problem:
The universe is inherently unpredictable.
Relativity, quantum mechanics, superstring theory, fractal patterns: Twenty-first century science and mathematics makes it clear that we do not live in a clockwork universe. At best we can lay out a range of possible futures.
But we can’t predict or control the future.
So what’s a Treasure Hunter to do?
Treasure Hunters create many maps to the future. As events unfold and details get filled in, these maps allow us to recognize potential dead ends, dangers and opportunities that we wouldn’t have otherwise seen.
We can free ourselves of the myth that the future is predictable and controllable. And with that freedom, we can move naturally, easily and powerfully through time.
If that’s a path that sounds good to you, keep on reading.
(Discover how an ethno-mathematician found an example of the unpredictable universe in the rooftops of a village in Mali. This fun fifteen minute video is a great treasure.)
Create your own treasure maps to your unpredictable futures! We have two versions of this great Treasure Hunt favorite, one that will take you just a few minutes, one that will last from twenty minutes to a couple of hours.