The Sky's The Limit

“I always taught you that you could have whatever you dream

Well, I want you to hold on to that dream, baby

Hold on to it real tight, ‘cause the sky’s the limit”

2025 is already popping off and hitting hard…extreme weather, devastating fires, political tumult and all the other shit that seems to jam us up. On the other hand, it is a new year, which often means new beginnings…ya know, resolutions. This essay isn’t about resolutions and their validity. If you’ve read any of my other musings, you know that I have strong willpower to complete goals, but those goals aren’t predicated upon a particular date…they are fueled by challenges and desires that I have for myself. That said, not everyone is as maniacal about goals as I am, nor should you be. Don’t be this guy…while staying at a hotel recently, which strangely didn’t have a fitness center and I failed to pack for 17 degree outside temps, I ran 5k in the stairwell…up and down 8 flights. WOOF. Anyway, I digress and back to resolutions. Research from Katy Milkman, as outlined in her fantastic book “How To Change”, the potential of the “fresh start effect” does have real power in driving behavior change. So whether you need an anchor date or just tackle goals as they present, go for it.?

The real meat of this essay is less about setting goals and more about the mindset that leads up? to a goal. We are all motivated. Motivated to lose weight, make more money, spend time with friends, travel, you name it. Where we generally all fall short is the willpower to see these things come to fruition. We know this and we know that willpower is often seen as the real barrier to entry. I however, don’t believe this is the case. What I see as the barrier to entry is a person’s belief in the possible. Our ability to vision our future-self.

In this context, our belief in the possible rests in our alignment between current and future views of ourself. This idea of current and future self is wildly heady and filled with so many nuances that I can’t begin to touch on. However, through research, readings, conversations and work, I’ve come to realized that our ability to recognize our future-self as less of a stranger and more of an ever present partner is the truth that leads to profound impact. Despite what many of us think, our ability to rationalize our future-self is less-so than many assume. And if you don’t believe me, ask yourself why gyms aren’t packed year round and why Dunkin’ Donuts is a national chain. The quick answer is that our motivations are quickly overwhelmed by our lack of motivation. However, I believe that goals fall short because mindset from the start wasn’t where it needed to be.

Our future-self is equivalent to the “sky’s the limit”. What we imagine for ourselves can be our reality but first, our current and future-selves need to have synergies. Let’s use Jewel, the Grammy nominated artist as an example. Early on, Jewel playing gigs at local bars and living out of her car, was in dire straights. Eventually, she gained traction and was offered a $1 million dollar advance from Atlantic Records. It’s safe to assume that if any of us were homeless and someone offered us a million bucks to follow our passion, we’d jump on it. Not Jewel. When confronted with this moment, she reflected on her future-self and what the possibilities might look like - success, fame, failure, disillusionment, etc. So this future powerhouse artist chose to manager her career and future in a way that flew in the face of convention, she turned down the advance. She recognized that satisfying today’s challenges weren’t necessarily in her future-self’s best interest. She did sign with Atlantic Records, however under terms that would better position her future-self to be happy and successful.?

Decisions like this aren’t made if you don’t have a strong constitution. And a strong constitution only arrises when you can envision the future and the happiness you want for yourself. This is why the barrier to entry for our goals and desired achievements starts by seeing our future-selves less as a stranger and more as the life we WILL manifest.?

Overcoming this barrier has been researched by some truly exceptional thought leaders. Hal Hershfield is a leading authority on this space. He’s studied the effects that viewing an aged happy version of ourself will have on current behaviors, specifically related to savings rates. What his work found is that the more we overlap our current and future self, the more likely we are to take action today, despite results unrealized for years to come. This type of ‘neuro-imaging’ serves as a powerful intervention to combat several common struggles that most of us face: present bias, time discounting, empathy gap and effective forecasting. As we bolster our abilities to combat these behavioral headwinds, the greater our chances for future success rise.?

Back to the beginning of this randomness. With 2025 in full rage, it can appear that everything is hopeless. Yes, there are many things out of our control and our mettle towards each of these is unique to each of us. BUT, as we think about the goals we have and motivating factors that are important to us, the first step is to work towards visioning our future-self as a happy companion, not as a distant stranger. As these skills improve, so will your goal completion and success rates.?

Personally, I feel that my circles overlap quite a bit. I have a strong sense of being and my appetite to tackle goals burns hot. However, as I think about the sky is the limit, I do think that I can be much more bullish in my visions for future-self. I have this constant question that plagues me - am I living a life smaller than the soul desires. And the answer to this on any given day is YES. Knowing this and looking forward to my future, I know I need to start to put in place a plan of attack to manifest this desire. Vision it and then get to work. I am my future but the future I see requires hard work and constant grinding.

Let’s reach for the stars. Let’s envision the life we want. Let’s go!

“Sky is the limit and you know that you keep on

Just keep on pressin’ on

Sky is the limit and you know that you can

Have what you want, be what you want”