There always was NO FUTURE

I see a lot of, mostly younger (being younger then myself becomes easier task every day) succumbing to dark outlook, that the world is hopeless.

The thing is, that looking back at my 50 years, it was always a case, and it was always a false narrative (minus the outlier situations).

There is no cure for it, other than going through this period and living to see the other day yourself. That's the hard part of this experience.

Whatever myself or others will tell you about it, can be brushed with "You don't know how it is, at your time it was different."

Yup. The point is, that it was different, and it is different for every person who lives through it. You (as a part of this experience) are no special in it. Yet, you are special - as a person.

It was easier "back then"

That's the common fallacy - it was easier back then. You had it easier, time was different.
Yup, it was. Yup, maybe some things financially were in a different place.

But... we thought the same about our parents or their generations. That's part of the life and going through it.

People are going through a change and they look at people who were there before and that already are somewhere with their life. It looks bad, they got it. You haven't.

You are are looking from starting line, at a people who is running for 10 years. Actually this person is going out of energy (or close to it). You see it and you are like "Oh, they got easier, I will never make it."

Sure, you will not if you will not start to run (don't mistake it with rat race or something, put your own analogy here is you like).

You are looking at people in some point in time, with the result they got after years of doing stuff, without a knowledge what it took, to get there, what they've gained or lost and what was their starting point.

Also what you are missing, is their perspective at their starting line. I'm assure you - it also was close to what you see right now, and it was mostly bleak.

My version of "NO FUTURE"

From current world perspective, I've got no future. And actually I was "NO FUTURE", part of heavy-metal and punk subculture, it was something a lot of us, carried on a poster (more likely jacket) every day.

I was born during the communist time, behind Iron Curtain. I couldn't travel outside of Poland and have passport. Oh, I was able to travel once, to Hungary, but then I had to return my passport to police station.

There was actually no future ahead of us, no role models (other than our parents), no phone, no internet, TV, we were poor ... and then it all fell apart.

The system crashed and yeah, maybe we got more open as a country, but my parents lost jobs and had to become entrepreneur within a single day, we become even poorer, the unemployment was 20+ percent.

All the jobs options... has changed. My education from high school become irrelevant.

We haven't got a future. Literally. That was our point of view. We saw our parents loosing their past, people who were in their primes become rich or getting new kind of jobs, and we were just looking how it was passing by for us.

When I got out of the university, the unemployment was still high, I wasn't exactly sure what I would do (had some job, had some skills). No plan, no future.

People who started mere 5 years before me, were successful in international corporations businesses, they got already careers, houses/flats, cars.

I was at my "starting line".

But it was easier, now it is so fast.. so much things to learn

That's the line I've heard recently as well. That right now it is faster, there's so much to learn, it is overwhelming.

Yup. I feel you. I had to (among many other things):

• learn how the phone works and how to use it (literally)
• what computer is and how to use it
• what is this damn Internet and how to connect to it
• what is the mobile phone and how to use it
• how to send damn fax to Microsoft to start my business with them
• how to create document, spreadsheet and type all the formulas
• how to book a hotel and ticket, without booking sites on-line
• how to board the plane (I was almost 30 years old when I first traveled on a plain)

Not to mention that I had to thought myself a language, that wasn't officially thought in my country (English). All of it without access to internet, books, videos etc. or people who could show me how to do it.

During my time:

• We got land line phones and they went away
• We got mobile phones, and they have changed into mobile computers
• I typed on a mechanical typewriter and learned how do to computations on mechanical calculator (not a small electronic one, but literally mechanical thing) and it all went away into dust (thank you for two years of typing classes).
• We switched from computers being standalone computers, to networked one, to connected to Internet all the time
• We got couple of market busts, dot com bubble, housing crisis etc.

Someone said recently in X convo: "But it was easier to win the market in the past." Fuck, I didn't even knew what the market it and first time I probably heard about it when I was twenty+.

The point here isn't to tell you, that we had it hard. The point is to show, that the change is always there and we all had to learn new tricks along the way. Most, like 80% of my knowledge from high school and university time, is irrelevant now.

It will not change and it wasn't easier in the past. It was the same.

The Choice

Some people I knew or friends succumbed to this "NO FUTURE" thing. That there's no point in trying or doing stuff as the world is already "set".

Some of them did fine, some of them deteriorate into bad habits.

What I can see in a hindsight, is that those who didn't and had "Let's fu..k it and try to do something" attitude did better.

And it doesn't mean that people had grand plans to conquered the world. I didn't.

If you would ask me if I had a plan, the truth is, I didn't. Oh, I didn't big time. I just showed up, put hours in and tired things.

Probably I was lucky, that I also met some people who were trying things and we were doing some experiments together (like PC parts/assembly company).

Luck, but not blind luck, is a big part of our lives, we just don't like to admit it.

So yeah, I feel you. You feel that there is no future, world isn't fair anymore, there is no equal chances etc., and in many areas you might be right.

But you are not special in it. Your generation is not special. We all were there before. In our own version of "NO FUTURE."

In the end, it comes down to THE CHOICE: will you succumb to this feeling, see the world as not fair (it isn't fair and it wasn't) and rigged (it is and it was), and decide to sit and do nothing, or you will try to carve your own space in it.

How?

I have no fu...king clue about it. I didn't had any idea for myself, so even after doing it for last 35yrs on the market, I don't feel competent enough to advice you on that. Hell, you probably know more about the world out there.

The real choice, cliche how it sounds, is in how you see it and what you are going to decide to do about it.

Ignore the noise and people out there

A lot of what you gather now, is the noise. Noise is dragging you down. It is a feature of our algorithmic driven tools.

What you get from this noise is either negativity or inflated expectations. It is topic for separate write-up so for now only two pieces:

• take active approach in removing noise from your life
• don't set your expectations looking at people who are earning money from building those expectations for you

Ignore people (also me, if you choose so) who tells you what you should do. What you can get from them are hints, learnings. Process it for yourself.

But in the end, as Naval says, "life is being lived in the arena." Go out and try things. The situation works in your favor, if you decide to ignore the noise and do stuff.

From some perspectives, the bar was never set lower. You may think, that world has change, but in the end, people still are valuing simple stuff:

• show up
• do things
• be reliable
• deliver value (where value might be defined in many different ways).

World is more positive sum game than people think. I wasn't always thinking like that, but I see the difference since I've started to think about it this way.

Earlier you will shake off your version of "NO FUTURE" than better.

Have fun 🖖

PS. You may want to read "Lessons learned so far" I wrote some time ago, but in case you wouldn't I just quote first four points from it:

1. It is a long haul game

2. There are no shortcuts - you will have to work to earn it

3. Take care of yourself; you will need it for the long haul

4. Don't compare yourself to others. You observe them long in their version of a game.

There is extended version of all of these points plus 26 more, so feel free to read through it if you like.