The fluid present

When I hear most people talk about dreams or ambitions, they talk about their plans for the future. As I was talking to one of these individuals recently, I had an epiphany: There is no such thing as the future. Well, at least not the kind most people envision.\nThe future people refer to is part of the imagination. It is not real. Most people refer to the future as if you can get into a time machine and end up in a time five years from now. It is as if the future is separated from the present in some way.\nThe reality is that we live our lives one second at a time. Every human being lives in what I call the fluid present. The future that is one minute away is as real as the future that is five years from now. Success in both situations requires some kind of action in the present.\nPeople often imagine becoming very successful and achieving goals in the future because it seems easier than in the present. The cold, hard truth is that you will NEVER live in the future, but always in the present. The chances of success in health, wealth and relationships are as high, or arguably higher, at this moment in time as they will ever be.\nNow, this is not to say that one should not plan for the future. You cannot become successful in business, or anything worthwhile, overnight or even after several years. In George Leonard’s book “Mastery,”The author claims that it takes most individuals more than seven years of constant practice to master any aspect of life. Personally, it has taken me nine years of constant business practice and learning to get to my present level, and God knows that it is going to take many more decades to get to the level of skill that I aspire to have. The good news is that with a high enough level of commitment, you are rewarded both intrinsically and materially during this journey.\nFor some, the fluid present is an idea that will crush their dreams; for others, it will act as a wake-up call. In “The 4-Hour Workweek,” Timothy Ferris claims that most people are not pessimistic, but unjustifiably optimistic. They believe things will change without any kind of action or event. This is not the way it works.\nOn some level, without defining it, I have always believed in the idea of the fluid present. I have complemented this idea with belief in myself and humanity as a whole. \nGrowing up as part of the Russian immigrant community, I was exposed to an interesting phenomenon: I was surrounded by a community that started with nothing. I became aware of how much attitude and perseverance play a role in success. My parents’ constant push and persistence to learn English and excellence at their jobs helped my sister and me get out of the lower-middle class community in which we spent our first years in this country.\nIn a fluid present world, making things happen is on your shoulders. When you look into the business world, you see that those who focus on getting things done are successful. Successful people are not harping over the past or dreaming about the future. They are taking action, making mistakes and redirecting their course. \nThe past doesn’t define you, so get over it. The future doesn’t exist, so forget it. In order to succeed, you must embrace the present. The rest, as they say, will be history.