When You Forget Your Future

Reader,

There was a season of my life I call the river of misery.

Despair on one side.
Comparison on the other.
And me… floating somewhere in the middle wondering how I got here.

I had left Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia after nearly two decades.

A former boss recruited me to an up-and-coming digital media technology company. They wanted a national revenue leader who could reimagine their product through storytelling. I was all in.

In eight months, I doubled the ad buy deal size.

Then the company hired a global sales leader.

Four weeks.
Four meetings later.
I was fired.

(P.S. I helped recruit her.)

I was devastated.

I didn’t just lose a job.
I lost my footing.

I spiraled.

Replaying conversations.
Rewriting history.
Ruminating so much it showed up in my nightly dreams.

Energy drained.
Confidence shaken.
Future blurry.

That was a low value cycle.

We all have them.

Low value cycles sound like:

I should have known.
I messed this up.
I’m behind.
They’re ahead.
Maybe I’m not who I thought I was.

They shrink our imagination.
They narrow our decisions.
They keep us reacting from the moment instead of responding from who we’re becoming.

Here’s what shifted it for me.

My boyfriend (now husband) asked me a simple question:

“Why did you leave Martha?”

And I remembered. I left because I had a vision. I knew I was made for more and a next chapter.

I believed I could take everything I learned — growing a business through crisis, IPO, reinvention — and build something powerful somewhere else.

That dream still existed.

The firing didn’t erase it.

It only interrupted it.

And the moment I reconnected to that future vision, my energy changed.

My posture changed.

My decisions changed.

That was the beginning of a high value cycle.

I believe anyone can do the impossible when they deepen awareness and expand their imagination. I'm building research to prove it. The results from my Human A-I™ Index show [take it HERE]:

7 out of 10 high achievers struggle to clearly envision their future.

Seven. Out. of. 10.

That means that even the most talented, capable, high-performing leaders are making decisions based on who they’ve been and who they are today — rather than from the perspective of who they are becoming: their future self.

You can count on low value cycles.

The difference isn’t whether you spiral.

The difference is whether you remember your future.

High value cycles begin the moment you answer:

Who am I becoming?
What am I building toward?
What would my future self choose right now?

Low value cycles are driven by emotion.
High value cycles are driven by vision.

And vision restores energy faster than willpower ever could.

You cannot become something or someone you cannot see.

If 7 out of 10 of us struggle to envision our future, then 7 out of 10 of us are more vulnerable to staying stuck in the river of misery longer than necessary.

Here’s the good news:

Vision is trainable.

Imagination is buildable.

And your future self is not some abstract idea. It’s a decision filter.

This week, when you feel the spiral start…

Don’t ask:
“How do I fix this?”

Ask:
“What future am I committed to?”

Then make one decision from there.

That’s how you move from low value to high value.

Not by avoiding the river. But by remembering where you’re headed.

The Human A-I™ Index reveals whether you are pressure-driven — or future-led. Get a personalized report from this 5-minute assessment.

Your FUTURE will thank you. Take it HERE

If you want a co-pilot to create your future you want? Reply to me with this email. Here's what a few clients have shared about their experience.

On last thing...Team Christina rides for Cycle for Survival again on March 13. Our 6th year and so far $230,000 raised. Every dollar goes to research which is so important because rare cancers - like mine [Acute Myeloid Leukemia] are resistant and UNDERFUNDED.

This year our goal is to raise another $70,000. We are oh so close to that number at $58k.

I'd be so grateful if you would consider donating. Every donation of over $25+ will receive a copy of my book, For Success Sake!

If you have already donated THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.

Here's the link to DONATE.