I have spent a good portion of my career helping other people navigate change. Recently, life has apparently decided I need some continuing education.
People I love are moving farther away. I am rethinking parts of my business because what clients need from me is changing rapidly. And I am still competing athletically while living in a body that occasionally responds to my ambitions with, “We don’t do that anymore.”
My brain remembers being younger.
My lower back has documentation proving otherwise.
What has helped me is something from neuroscience that I usually talk about in a business context. Karl Friston’s work and the broader field of predictive processing suggest that the brain is constantly making predictions about what happens next, then comparing those predictions with reality.
I’ve realized that sometimes the change isn’t the only thing that is creating my discomfort.
When the Picture No Longer Fits
My outdated prediction is. When reality doesn’t cooperate, you get a prediction error in the brain.
I predict family will remain geographically close because that is the picture my brain has gotten comfortable with. I predict certain approaches in my business will continue working because they worked beautifully before. And somewhere deep inside my athletic brain, there is apparently still a 30-year-old man making personnel decisions.
The lesson I am learning is surprisingly simple: when reality changes, update the prediction.
So, I am experimenting with something different.
Instead of asking, “How do I get things back to the way they were?” I am asking, “What does doing this well look like now?”
That question changes things.
What does being a close family look like when geography changes?
What does serving clients exceptionally well look like when their problems and structures are changing?
What does being a competitive athlete look like when experience and smarter recovery have to compensate for things that no longer bend without submitting paperwork first?
I don’t particularly enjoy every update. Who does?
Update the Prediction
But perhaps agility in our personal lives isn’t about keeping up with everything changing around us. It is noticing when the picture in our head no longer matches the life in front of us, and having the courage, humility and humor to redraw it. You don’t win by correctly predicting everything that comes next. You get better at updating your predictions when life proves you wrong.
So, here’s the question I’m asking myself, and perhaps it’s worth asking yourself too:
Where in your life are you trying to make the present match an old prediction instead of creating an updated prediction for what comes next?
I’m working on mine.
My knees and lower back have already submitted theirs.
Update the prediction. Then take the next useful step.
Preferably one that doesn’t require my knees. But seriously, to help you take the next step, we are launching a free YouTube channel with inspirational and instructional videos designed to help accelerate your success. Please check it out and subscribe so that you can know when new material is available that you might find valuable.
You don’t have to figure out the whole future today.
Just make the next few feet of the road visible.
~John
P.S. Truth be told… I played some of the best Pickleball I have ever played, and we lost as close as anyone could lose in the gold medal match. So at least I have that memory to help me reframe the post-tournament discomfort. 😊
About John: John F. Edwards, CSP, is a Leadership Futurist, former Fortune 100 leader, bestselling author, and executive development expert who uses applied neuroscience to accelerate leadership performance and prepare organizations for the future of work. With more than 30 years of global leadership experience, John specializes in leadership in an AI world, change leadership, executive presence, resilience, organizational culture, and brain-based performance strategies. A Certified Speaking Professional, a distinction earned by fewer than 18% of professional speakers worldwide, John combines neuroscience, storytelling, and practical business experience to equip leaders to think better, lead better, and build lasting success.
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