There are times when you feel anxious about the future.
I wonder if I will be able to continue with my current job.
I’ve just joined a company and I’ve reached this age in the blink of an eye.
My salary hasn’t increased in several years, and I don’t feel like changing jobs now.
Everyone is getting married and preparing for the future, so maybe I should start something too.
I’m sure there are many people who are thinking like this while working at their companies every day.
Some of you may be thinking of doing something now because of your anxiety about the future.
However, what should we worry about in the future that no one knows?
No one can predict what will happen in the future.
At any time, the company may go into bankruptcy or be laid off due to bad luck.
You may not be able to adjust to the new organization due to organizational changes, and you may quit.
You may not be able to work due to a sudden illness.
Our defensive instincts cause us to imagine things that don’t exist and make us anxious.
So, how can we get rid of this kind of worry?
Kinesis and Energeia
Aristotle calls “the act of putting future goals first” kinesis, and “the act of neglecting future goals and focusing on the present moment” energeia, and says the following
“Pleasure is essentially nothing more than ‘activity energeia,’ itself an object telos.”
Nicomachean Ethics
What exactly does this mean?
It is the act of saving or doing something for the future.
On the other hand, energeia is the act of living in the moment, enjoying the present moment while looking back at the future, so you can be in a state of accomplishment already.
For example, have you ever had an event such as a business meeting or a presentation where you were immersed in creating materials, researching and studying what you didn’t understand, and preparing mindlessly, and as a result, the event ended successfully and received rave reviews?
Or you may have done your best to do what your seniors told you to do anyway, and they liked it.
This is what “energeia” is all about.
It’s an experience that you didn’t set out to achieve, but because you did the process well, it led to a good result.
Like Kinesis, having a goal and working backwards from it to figure out what to do now may seem serious and smart, but it is often seen that people who are not immersed in the present moment perform worse than those who are.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “the mind is not here.
This refers to a situation where the body is in the present, but the mind is not in the present, either in the future or in the past.
When the body and mind become one, the best performance is created, and the results naturally follow.
A good result is the ability to enjoy the process.
How to resolve anxiety about the future
However, it should not mean that you do not have any goals at all, because we are all greedy.
It’s not good to be biased, so I think it’s important to enjoy the process of the moment and not focus too much on the goal.
In this day and age, I think we are entering an era where it is difficult to control ourselves, with social media profiles and postings showing anxiety about the future and regret if we don’t do something now.
People who work hard to achieve their goals, who enjoy the process even when it’s hard, and who live their lives to the fullest in order to achieve results, are naturally attractive. That charm is what will give you the power to connect to the future.
Summary
This time, we talked about anxiety about the future.
Rather than counting backwards to an unknown future, let’s enjoy the present and fully display the charm of Atana.
The present moment is the cutting edge, so if you don’t shine in the present, you won’t shine in the future.
Enjoying and living in the present moment will lead you to the future.
The words of Aristotle condense such things.
“Pleasure is essentially nothing more than ‘activity energeia,’ itself an object telos.”
Nicomachean Ethics
A word from the author
Even in situations that I would never enjoy, such as an important presentation or an apology for a complaint, if I am conscious of “enjoying being angry” or “enjoying the tension,” I don’t feel uncomfortable and on the contrary, I feel grateful that I am allowed to have such experiences.
It’s not all about the good stories, but how you enjoy yourself in the tough and difficult times will help you grow.
Experience is always a plus.