Stay present or look ahead? Finding balance can be complex
Now that spring has officially sprung, it is a good time to think about what the future has in store — or is it better to reflect on the past?
“Temporal focus” — the attention we devote to thinking about the past, the present and the future — has become an important subject for researchers and clinical psychologists alike.
Peter Felsman at the University of Michigan looked at the relationship between temporal focus and general outlook, and found individuals who focused mainly on the present had higher levels of satisfaction. In clinical settings, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy — learning to focus fully and non-judgmentally on the present — has been shown to reduce relapse rates of those who have suffered bouts of depression.
However, remaining entirely based in the present isn’t a realistic way to live in today’s goal-oriented world.
Jennifer Aaker at Stanford Business School looked at how individuals of all ages define happiness. Young people, she found, equate happiness with the future, with focusing on what is to come; whereas older individuals are happier when they remain rooted in the present.
Cindy Ward at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont., compared individuals’ beliefs about the possibility of change and their level of life satisfaction. She found only those who believe an individual can change fundamentally if they put in enough time and effort are happier when focusing on the future. Those who believe fundamental change is unlikely are happier when they remain more firmly in the present.
Taken together, these studies suggest the happiest individuals are those whose youthful dreams and goals gradually become a contented, realistic acceptance of their current situation.