4 Attitudes We Can Maintain Towards The Future

There are different ways of thinking about life and, therefore, we can have different attitudes towards the future. Since the future is what is yet to come, what has not happened yet, we will not know what will happen with complete certainty. Guessing the future, therefore, is going to be presented as impossible, which can lead us to experience negative emotional states.

Normally, what is not known generates fear and anxiety, uncertainty. The future, that great unknown, produces these sensations in us when we think of it. But the future is not all black, there are things we can do to improve it. Although we cannot predict it, we will always have the possibility of showing a certain attitude that helps us to be prepared to face the future.

Among the attitudes towards the future, four stand out that, broadly speaking, encompass the entire range of attitudes that we can maintain in a very simplistic and graphic way. Although they have been primarily used to determine the attitudes of leaders, they are applicable to all of us. These are the following:

• Ostrich attitude (passivity).
• Firefighter attitude (reactivity).
• Insurer attitude (preactivity).
• Conspiratorial attitude (proactivity).

The ostrich and passivity

Ostriches, despite popular belief, do not hide their heads under the ground when they feel they are in danger. However, the name of this attitude is given by this false belief. This attitude is based on passivity, on doing nothing. The attitude of the ostrich consists in giving up seeing the world as it is until changes are imposed, sometimes with all their harshness.

This attitude is considered negative since it implies not being prepared for what may happen. However, it is not always bad. Doing nothing is a valid strategy that can sometimes be effective. However, this attitude carries a lot of risk. If the future requires us to change, we may lose many opportunities by imitating ostriches.

The firefighter and reactivity

Firefighters, in general, act when there is a fire. When it is too late to prevent. This attitude towards the future is less passive than that of the ostrich and consists of waiting for the fire to break out in order to fight it. Waiting for problems to occur to solve them is a very risky attitude since, in some cases, it can be late.

Reactive people tend to act on stimuli without thinking, action-reaction. Although in some cases these strategies are efficient, especially when there is little time, usually hasty reactions induce us to make more mistakes.

The insurer and preactivity

Insurers sell insurance that puts a price on the possessions we have so that, in case something happens to them, we can recover the economic value they had. This attitude towards the future goes a step beyond the attitude of the firefighter. It prevents something from happening and makes sure that if it really happens at least everything is not lost.

The attitude of the insurer is considered proactive. Anticipate what can happen before it happens. Although it is better to be aware of what may happen, this attitude also has a negative part. Fear can lead us to be too proactive, to insure everything, at a high cost, when the chances of something negative happening are very low.

The conspirator and proactivity

The conspirators are always on the alert. Any sign leads them to distrust and elaborate complicated plots that do not hold up when compared to reality. The attitude towards the future of the conspirator is called proactivity. It is based on acting before something happens.

As with every previously seen attitude, this one adds something more to the previous ones. Comparing it with the proactive, which consisted of making sure that if something bad happened in the future, at least, we were assured that we were not going to lose everything, the proactive attitude goes one step further and seeks to change the future. Try to intervene so that reality accommodates our thoughts. If you are looking for a specific future, the proactive attitude is to do everything possible to achieve it.

After seeing all the attitudes towards the future, the normal thing is to lean towards the last two, for the proactive surveillance of the insurer and for the proactive surveillance of the conspirator. That is, having an attitude aimed at anticipating future threats and opportunities that are announced on the horizon in order to correct our path without abandoning our course.