Adler’s Forward Thinking and 2020
So with a new decade approaching and my graduation date slowly creeping up on me. I thought I would apply Alfred Adler’s thinking to my own life. I tend to focus on the past a lot and it hurts me more. Neo-psychoanalyst Alfred Adler said that humans have three main goals in life: work, love, and relationships with other people. In order to have these things an individual must possess “forward thinking”, meaning you must look beyond your current or past circumstances. The other day I had a moment where I contemplated a bucket list of ten things I’m going to do before 2030:
- Spend time with Elephants at an Elephant Sanctuary
- Visit other European countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Spain, etc.
- Write a book about bullying in American high schools
- Learn more about Indian culture (it’s a part of me)
- Do a TED talk on suicide issues
- Take a cooking class in different cultural cuisines
- Visit all fifty states before the age of thirty
- Adopt a ball python
- Win a Nobel Prize
- Find a life partner who is willing to grow with me
Now I’m going to list eight things I have accomplished in the three decades I’ve been alive in:
- Got hit by a car and survived with minimal injury
- Made honor roll each semester of high school and the Dean’s list in college this past Spring.
- Traveled to Paris and explored certain things by myself with no navigation issues (Paris is a big city.)
- Graduated high school magna cum laude
- I made it into a State finals for Impromptu speaking for Forensics (public speaking)
- I found success in horseback riding in high school, the memories and ribbons are my memory of that
- Played countless tunes on the piano for years
- Still haven’t broken a bone yet
The point of Adler’s thinking is that despite all these good things I’ve listed, life is a book that’s written by experience. So far mine has been full of experience, both good and bad. But I’m optimistic that there is more adventure to come. In the words of Walt Disney, “Keep Moving Forward.”
