也許你該跟未來學家談談：一堂前所未見的人生規畫課，所有問題你都可以問 The Future You: Break Through the Fear and Build the Life You Want

by Brian David Johnson

YOUR FUTURE STARTS NOW

By the time you reach the end of the book, I promise you will understand your Future You better than ever...you will be able to see yourself in the future you want and know the steps needed to get there.

Brian David Johnson has spent a quarter century helping governments, schools, corporations, and small businesses shape the future—now, he wants to help you. 

In The Future You, Johnson distills his work as an applied futurist and gives readers the practical tools to craft the future they’ve always wanted. Offering a unique combination of practical guidance, interactive workbooks, and compelling real-life stories, The Future You empowers readers to break through the fear of uncertainty. Whether you want to find your new passion, switch your career, or make a personal change, fear holds so many of us captive and prevents us from taking the steps necessary to start now. You no longer have to just dream about a better future, you can turn those plans, those ideas, and those hopes into reality.

Genres: Personal Development, Self Help, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

About the author

The future is BRIAN DAVID JOHNSON's business. From 2009 to 2016, Johnson was Intel Corporation’s first-ever futurist. Currently, he is a professor of practice at Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society, and a Futurist and Fellow at Frost & Sullivan, a visionary innovation company that’s focused on growth. He also works with a broad range of groups including governments, militaries, academics, non-profits, private industries, trade organizations, and startups to help them envision their future. Johnson has more than 40 patents, and he has been published in many consumer and trade publications, including The Wall Street Journal and Slate, and he appears regularly on Bloomberg TV, PBS, Fox News, and the Discovery Channel.

Reviews

[Tim Ozinga · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m sorry, but this book really didn’t do anything for me. A futurist by his own words cannot tell the future, just some general advice on what to do or not do to bring about good things for yourself. You can skip this one

[Petr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asi bych to měl taky zkusit...

[Shashi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting take on self-help books. To summarize:
+ Stop trying to predict the future and start planning for the future by telling yourself better stories about the future you want.
+ Use the "backcasting process" (pg72) to plan for key milestones along the way - midway, partway, and monday (i.e. first step).
+ Ask yourself key questions along the way. These clarifying questions make the book absolutely worth reading by themselves. The author asks you to answer them as you read the book, which is very much worth doing. This exercise contextualized the author's stories and made them much more relatable.
+ The Future is Local - look to influence the people and places around you first; then think Globally.
+ Harness fear and face it head-on in this process. You might find yourself less fearful.
+ Embrace technology; you decide how it's applied, not the other way around.
- I skipped half the stories on my first pass, but there are nuggets you don't want to miss. That said, way too many superfluous details (i.e. weather, venues, etc.).

I know others didn't much care for it, but as a frameworks-oriented person, this book helped me make sense of a personal career transition.

Disclaimer: I know the author from my time at Intel.

[Cyndi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in Feb 2021 and by Sept 2021 I sold my home of 21 year and moved with my family to a new state, a new home and a new life that we didn't previously even realize was out there waiting for us! You have to go drink a cup of tea in your future life to test it out!

[Hrishikesh · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. A few useful nuggets in the first 3 chapters. The rest is all about how great the author is at solving other people's problems, how he rubbed shoulders with heads of state, how he is in the same league as Steve Jobs, etc.

I wasted a few hours on this junk.

[Yama Chen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don’t waste your time and money for it.

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Painful. This guy keeps telling you how he's going to tell you something useful later in the book. I guess that's the good thing for a futurist about the future -- it never comes.

When he finally gets to some kind of concrete examples of what he's talking about, it's totally mundane stuff that anyone can tell you. Like if you want to improve the shape you're in, then exercise more and eat better. Except that the example the author gives is a guy deciding to get a bunch of lab tests, hire a personal trainer, hire a nutritionist, hire a yoga instructor, and otherwise buy expensive things beyond the reach of most Americans.

The amazing process for arriving at that amazing decision is to do stuff like imagine where you want to be in life in 10 years and then think about the steps to get there. Sounds like "Begin with the end in mind" and basic advice you could get in a zillion places without all the useless autobiographical filler in this book. I guess the value of this book is for tech people who will listen to an Intel engineer but not to anyone else. If so, I hope it helps them.

Alternatively:
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow
How to Find the Work You Love

[Abra Kurt · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Future You, Brian David Johnson guides the reader from where they are to where they want to be by posing a series of questions to engage critical thinking. He calls himself a “futurist,” but there’s a lot of coaching in this book as well. A futurecasting specialist, Johnson lays out a formula for “backcasting” that focuses on both long- and short-term action-oriented strategies. And, he explains how our ability to recognize and embrace that “the future is local” has a direct bearing on our ultimate success. With an optimist’s view of the role of technology, Johnson encourages readers to consider the potential impacts of tech while facilitating a subtle shifting from a bystander mindset to one of proactive control. He provides advice for putting fear into perspective by getting specific and sitting with what haunts us – in past, present, and future terms. The reader is reminded that “plans are worthless, but planning is everything” because getting from here to there is never one and done. It’s a way of life. It’s also, apparently, like cooking. Applicable on the macro and micro level, this book is also a good reference to reread any time we know where we want to go, but we get stuck getting there.

I received a digital pre-publication copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Tony Fitzpatrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much celebrated personal planning book from the former Intel Futurologist, "BDJ". Takes a simple model of future-casting (define the future you want, determine mid way points, identify support required, start now), and applies it to personal objective setting. The book includes a variety of case studies including career changes, dealing with lifestyle choices, coping with fear and uncertainty. Fairly obvious in many ways, but well presented and interesting to read. Easy writing style and lots of amusing anecdotes. Recommended by Tim Harford of the FT.

[Kati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, no Czech editions of this book. And once again, I couldn't be bothered to ask for adding one. Ergo.

Kniha to byla rozhodně zajímavá, ale spíše než teorie a rychlé otázky, úkoly ke splnění, mě zaujaly příběhy BDJových známých, lidí, kterým pomohl. Prostě příklady z praxe. Bylo zajímavé sledovat, na co všechno a jak se dá future casting použít.

[LemontreeLime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many of the things in this I’ve heard before, but never from an engineer. He makes it all seem so do-able, logical, optimistic. Worth reading.

[Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am going to read this book again, I think it is amazing.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Interesting concepts that are immediately usable.

[Jennifer Rumack · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The way to change the future is to change the story you are telling about it”. Right book….Right time.

[Amber Holbrook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay read. Some good tips but nothing too transformational. Biggest theme was that you can create your own future and how to take steps to get to where you want.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read on how to actively shape the future you want. It has journaling exercises for you to plan and think about a strategy how to create the future you want.

[annie cusack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like SMART goals, with a sprinkle of facing your fear of death.