Why Looking Forward Matters

Hello and welcome to the traveling introvert Today I want to talk about anticipation or basically having something to look forward to. This is a question I tend to ask at networking events a lot, rather than the so what do you do question, because because it generally makes people think. It's really quite shocking to just how hard some people have to think when you say, hey. What's something you're really looking forward to this week or this month or over the next few days? Instead of trotting out an answer, most people kind of have to go stop and be like, oh, well, that's normally what I get. And so here's the thing, having something to look forward to, no matter how small or big it is to you, is really important for your mental health. It is important for you to have something that you're working towards, that you can see coming. See what happened with COVID to a lot of people is that we were like okay 2 weeks we got this, 2 weeks we're shutting down for 2 weeks we're good, 2 weeks, 2 weeks came and went And then it was like, okay.

Well, we're just gonna wait for the vaccine and then we'll be good. And we didn't know when the vaccine was coming. It was just we were kind of anticipating, but there wasn't an end date. And the thing is we need psychologically an end date. That's just the way our brains work. If we get told an end date, we're good. When we don't have an end date, we are being stuck in limbo, is a terrible terrible thing for your mental health. So Even if your world is in chaos and everything is in limbo for you right now, giving yourself something to look forward to with a hard date and time will help increase your mental health more than you know.

And to give you an example, it could be that a movie is coming out that you want to see. And so it's great that you know like oh this movie is coming out and I want to see it, but what you want to do is remind yourself of it on a regular basis. So put it in your calendar. That's one thing you can do. Great. You'll probably see it pop up in your calendar the week of or the day of when you need to go see that movie. By then, it might be late to get tickets. Another thing you can do to reinforce for your brain that it's something that you are looking forward to is you can get apps on your phone that will do a countdown and it will say, hey.

7 days until insert thing here. 14 days, 23 days, 472 days until whatever it might be. And the reason I recommend this is because it reinforces. And sometimes, you know, we get mixed up on the days, the month, or what what year it is, and so it's really helpful to have that. And you see it counting down on your phone every time you open your phone or look at your phone, which is probably a lot or at least minimum once a day, you will see those numbers dropping and your mind is like, oh, yes. I mean, I can see the progress. You get really caught up subconsciously in the progress that you're making towards that arbitrary goal. And so having that there is a really good thing to do.

So what I want you to do is think about something that you can look forward to in 14 days or a month, maybe 6 weeks at like the furthest and like I said it doesn't have to be vacation, It could be a movie that's coming out. It could be that you've blocked out some solitary time for yourself. It could be you going having a staycation. It just has to be important to you, it doesn't have to be important to others. And then go in, find an app that does a countdown, put a pretty picture on there or one that will at least remind you of what it is the countdown is for if you can't personalize it And then put that front and center on your phone so that you see it every time that it comes. So then you are gonna keep track of upcoming events. And what you'll find is once you do it a couple times and there's no number no longer counting down on your phone, you'll think of something to put on there just to keep the excitement going in your mind and those positive effects of anticipation. And it's a daily small joys having something to look forward to.

It could be a favorite meal, a relaxing movie, a time to for a good book. It just helps create a positive outlook for you with that positive anticipation. Thank you for listening. This is Janice at the Career Introvert helping you build your brand and get hired. Have a great rest of your week.