As I sit here, wondering how I to put into words the insanity we call “life”, or at least the highly subjective perspective of my own. I decided a blog post would do it more justice than a fickle social media update.
The past year has been a transformative experience for me. After the entire “San Pancho” debacle, I returned to the city of mountains to lick my wounds and reassess my reality. Upon arrival, it was as if I walked into the tomb of my ancestors. Reminders of my past staring me in the face.
I was now in the heart of who I used to be, yet no longer am. It was a museum of memory, both the good and the bad. The anxiety that accompanied my past highlighted the reality of my situation. I was beaten and broken…and broke. December would prove to be yet another bleak end to a roller-coaster of a year. Or so I thought.
While resources weren’t abundant, there was a healing aspect to being surrounded by people that I love, and who love me back. For the first time in months, I had a moment to wallow in my own despair. I had permission to be defeated. This was exactly what I needed.
December came and December departed. January rolled in slowly. Drowning in debt and with a broken van in a mechanic’s shop in Puerto Vallarta, a sense of urgency overcame me. How am I going to fix this problem that I so ignorantly helped to create?
The answer to that problem I found in the future!
Future Money Here Now (1997)
It was a conversation I had with my brother and several conversations I had with my life partner that inched me closer to a revelation that would change my world. An understanding that would give me the tools to overcome any obstacle in my path from now on.
I have solved all of my problems…in the future!
No matter what you might be facing today, no matter what the hardship; in the future, you have already conquered the obstacle. You did the work, you pushed through the effort and somehow, you managed to solve the problem. In other words, there is no need to worry about the future. Your future-self has taken care of your “current self’s” problems.
This doesn’t mean you simply sit back and hope that the future takes care of the present. It means that you are committed to doing your best today to assist your future self in solving the problems. However, it removes anxiety, worry, and fear of your equation.
Anxiety, worry, and fear are natural responses to difficult situations, however, it does absolutely nothing to solve the problem. Instead, it makes you doubt yourself, you do not operate at an optimal level. This inhibits you from doing what is necessary to solve the problems adequately.
Trusting that if you do the best you can do today, even if it falls short of your goals, will push you closer to the resolution that you are hoping for, allows you to put your worries aside and focus on what truly matters – taking your problems head-on.
When I finally digested this paradigm and incorporated it into my programming, I wanted to solidify the magic of the idea into something practical.
The Power of Switch Words
The concept of “Future Money Here Now” is a Switch Word I created to captivate the idea I discussed earlier – all your problems are solved in the future. Perhaps, I didn’t create the switch word according to any official method, I simply took words that resonated with me and embodied the idea I was trying to capture.
I used the word “Money” instead of “solutions” because of what I was lacking most in my life at the time. Either way, the concept of money relates to solutions, and for me it made sense.
However, to solidify the concept even further, I decided to use numerology to simplify the concept even more. I assigned a numerical value to all of the letters in the phrase. Then, for each total numerical value on each word, I would reduce it to the lowest number possible.
For example;
“Future” would have a total numerical value of 28 because of:
F – 6
U – 3
T – 2
U – 3
R – 9
E – 5
I would then reduce the “28” even further by 2+8 =10 =1 + 0 = 1.
So the word “FUTURE” eventually is Represented by the number 1. I continued this process to eventually codify the entire phrase and reduce it simply to “1-9-9-7”. That became my mantra whenever I felt anxious, fearful or worried about the future.
Whenever a problem entered into my life, I would simply acknowledge the problem and quickly say “1-9-9-7” to remind me that this problem too, was solved in the future. Just do your best now, with what you have, and let Future-You deal with this problem – In the Future!
While you might think this is merely Hocus Pocus, let me tell you what happened after I implemented this little trick into my life.
It turns out that Magick is REAL!
“1-9-9-7” changed my life!
I received an angry call from an angry mechanic who has been patiently holding my van and expecting a large payment for months. I managed to face the problem and told him, that within a matter of 10 days I’d be able to give him a good portion of the money I owed. I kept on repeating 1-9-9-7 as I started bidding on projects to build up cash flow.
Suddenly, I received an email with several high-paying gigs and identified one in particular that resonated with who I am. The book was about Music Marketing and would take me four weeks to complete. However, this book was also just enough money to cover the entire cost of the van. With the downpayment on the project, I managed to put the angry mechanic at peace, and work started happening on the van.
Things were finally moving forward.
More importantly, the book itself acted as a blueprint to my own life. It gave me exactly the tools I would need to pursue the next step in my journey. I now, no longer would be walking aimlessly towards my passion without a plan. I was paid to figure all of that out, and it helped me tremendously.
Now, as I ride out the final months here in the City of Mountains, I prepare for one major task ahead. Depending on how this next task goes, my life, by the middle of this year, will be completely different again.
In less than 12 months, I have shed my old ways of thinking and undergone a major transformation. I no longer fear the future. Nor do I feel inadequate in terms of what I am able to do to overcome any problem in my path. I have learned Stoicism, reconnected with my meditation practices and activated a part of myself that has been dormant nearly for a decade.
Sometimes, even the harshest situations in your life are meant as a moment to outgrow your shell and to break into a new way of living. I know, that once I complete this stage of my life, I will be replenished to give to those who are still on their journey the tools that I have learned.
I have been silent on my Podcast “The Road to Artistry” not because I am not dedicated, but rather because I know that this part of my life is meant to fuel the content of the podcast. What comes next, will absolutely blow your mind away. I am more dedicated to my craft than ever before, and as I continue to reach further than I have ever done before, I will document my transformation every step of the way.
See…a Social Media Post simply would not have been enough to cover everything that I wanted to say. I hope this gave you some inspiration to face your problems. We all will be challenged every day of our lives. These challenges might feel unfair, however, when you realize that you are the only one who can solve your own problems…it becomes the fuel for growth.
Everything worthwhile in your life will come with resistance, however, only those who are truly dedicated and convinced about their purpose will do whatever it takes to overcome the obstacle. The obstacle is the way. Always remember that!