My future asks what I will do with it.
After looking back, turn around. Instead of starting at today and guessing forward, start at the far horizon and work back.
The Reverse Timeline
You choose the horizon. Nobody here decides how far ahead you should be able to see.
If you have decades
- At the end of my life, what do I hope is true?
- Ten years before that: what am I doing, building, sharing, teaching, repairing, enjoying?
- Twenty years before that: what relationships, health habits, spiritual practices, financial decisions, skills and projects need to exist?
- Today: what is one thing I can begin now?
If you are young
- Ten years
- Five years
- One year
- Ninety days
- This week
If the horizon is close
Don't impose decades. Choose what fits:
- What I want to say
- What I want to finish
- What I want to give
- Who I want to spend time with
- What I want remembered
What can I still create?
The frames that answered “what did I learn to do because I had to” (Innovations) and “what have work and scarcity taught me” (Economics) are also a list of things you can offer, teach, learn and need. That list has a home: the MATCHBAKERS™ Match Map. The music, food and traditions that feel like you (Arts) are a list of things you could make. See Make something from it.
Common questions across a life optional page
Researchers have described questions that tend to emerge across the life course: identity, intimacy, contribution, meaning, integrity, legacy. These are patterns, not deadlines. Compare, if it helps: What was I expected to be doing? What was actually happening in my life? What did I learn instead? What remains unfinished? What no longer matters?
A prayer journal faith pathway · clearly labeled
This belongs after the reflection, not before it. Private by default; it lives in your notes, not on this site. Five headings, each paired with a labeled study on From Spears to Hooks, so the text can question your assumptions rather than only confirm them.
- Thank you · people, experiences, provisions
- Help me · fear, uncertainty, relationships, decisions
- Help them · family, friends, community
- Help me become · character, calling, courage, forgiveness, service
- Before I go · things to say, repair, give, teach, create or complete