“I open my eyes and see the dream is long dead
I turned my back and quit the war in my head
I left our Eden dead and to the weeds
So tired of wasting time”
From “Bloodshot Eyes” by Lamb of God
It’s the psychological Clash of The Titans! Which psychological process is more related to our mental and physical health? Is it being future-oriented and optimistic? Or is it being focused on the here and now? These are seemingly paradoxical processes and yet each has been proposed and studied as being the key to a well-adjusted and successful life. Who will reign supreme as the champion construct?
Let the battle begin!
In this corner, we have the fantastic Future-Oriented Thinking! Future-oriented thinking refers to our ability to have expectations, plans, and hopes for events that will occur at a later time. The theory is that a strong belief that good things will happen in one’s future will not only create a sense of faith and security, but also motivate us to work for what we want in life and therefore make meaningful concrete changes.
And there is a substantial body of literature supporting the theory that future-oriented thinking is adaptive. For example, one future-oriented thinking construct that has received significant empirical attention is dispositional optimism – the belief that good things will happen in the future. Dispositional optimism has been shown to predict better health over time including improved cardiovascular functioning and increased longevity. One study of 5,007 participants assessed number of sick days from work for 36 months prior to and 18 months after the onset of a severe family illness. Highly optimistic individuals had lower increase in sick days, and a quicker return to baseline sick days following the event.
In contrast, pessimism – or the belief that negative events will occur in the future, has been found to be associated with increased depression and anxiety. For example, in one study examining the relation between pessimism and both depression and anxiety amongst 97 breast cancer patients over a three-month period, higher levels of pessimism at baseline predicted increased depression and anxiety at three month follow up. Other research suggests that in the most extreme cases, hopeless individuals who have given up on the future may be more at risk for suicidal thoughts and attempts.
So the evidence supports the notion that future orientated thinking matters. This would suggest that higher functioning individuals would have a strong connection to thinking about a positive future. So, it’s settled right? We need to think about the future to be healthy?
Not so fast! Because in this corner, we have the incredible In the Moment! Being in the moment refers to focusing on our immediate experience – without judgment or expectation — in other words, without future orientation. Most recently, this construct has been investigated in the “mindfulness” literature. There is substantial evidence that mindfulness therapy – teaching a non-judgmental awareness of present experience – can improve mental health. For example, one meta-analytic review of 39 studies across 1,140 participants found that amongst individuals who suffer from mood and anxiety disorders, mindfulness-based therapy was efficacious in significantly improving symptoms of depression and anxiety, respectively.
Similar theory and research support the importance of the “flow” in well-being. Flow is a mental state when someone is so completely immersed in what they are doing in the moment they lose sense of the concept of future time. For example, one study of 57 participants who were engaging in a workplace design task found that those individuals who reported experiencing more flow in the task were independently rated as being more creative during the task.
Now I’m confused. I thought thinking about the future is what matters? But why does being in the moment also predict healthy outcomes? Which one is it? Who wins the Clash of the Titans?
The answer would appear to be both. More, while these approaches seem incompatible, they actually can be complementary. In fact, one might argue that they work best synergistically.
Specifically, it is hard to imagine one being able to function effectively with no consistent thought of the future. If we do not have any thought of the future, we may be in the moment, but we will have very little ability to meet the basic needs of our life – work, relationships, food and shelter. These all require a certain degree of future-oriented thought and planning. And yet, conversely, never being in the present moment would undermine all of our future-oriented plans. For example, we may work hard to get a job with the hopes of building a career and earning money for retirement, but if we are thinking of our retirement rather than focusing on our work we may not keep our job for long.
So how could we integrate these concepts effectively? I recently spoke with Randy Blythe of the heavy metal band Lamb of God for the Hardcore Humanism with Dr. Mike Podcast and we discussed how these models can co-exist. Blythe has been outspoken about how he has combined both future-oriented thought and being in the moment in order to manage alcoholism, depression, suicidality, and even prison.
First, while we do not necessarily need to have a 20 year plan, it is generally advisable for us to devote ourselves to processes or practices that we think may be useful to us. For example, Blythe has set up several strong structures in his life, including membership in a professional band, meditation, exercise, and recovery from alcoholism. Each of these processes has a series of habits that Blythe utilizes to create structure in his life. “Started lifting weights and working out. I’m not a gym dude at all,” Blythe told me. “I have to keep my physical being healthy.”
However, the core of Blythe’s approach is that being part of what he considers to be a healthy process does not mean having the expectation that certain outcomes will occur. In fact, his meditation practice is designed specifically to not get too connected to any one particular outcome. “My life goes a lot better when I … maintain a meditation practice,” he said. “That helps me stay in the moment and recognize the reality of the situation I’m in. Because I get in trouble with what we call future tripping. If I start existing in the future, you know, I catastrophize things very quickly … Trying to maintain a meditation practice of sorts has helped me realize and recognize the fact that thoughts are just thoughts.”
As a result, one of the most important aspects of Blythe’s approach is that by engaging in future-oriented processes without necessarily attaching expectation, he is able to more nimbly mobilize adaptive behaviors that may improve his chances for positive outcomes. This flexibility – a concept he refers to as “protean” – is what allows him to balance future-oriented thinking with being in the moment. For example, he explained how he and his bandmates had enough belief in a possible future as a professional band such that they were willing to quit their jobs and go on tour – without necessarily being constrained by that outcome. They stay grounded in the process of music.
“We started playing just because we love music … not because I ever thought I’d be on tour with Metallica,” Blythe told me. “We did it just because we love music and things happened slowly for us … We were a band for 10 years before we were … I say forced to quit our day jobs.”
Blythe emphasizes that his approach is by definition dynamic and ever changing, and requires ongoing practice. “It’s a matter of trying to find the sort of common-sense approach … to what I’m going to do for the next week or so, and also just being open to change…,” Blythe described. “It’s a matter of practice…I’ve over planned and then I’ve had the inverse, where I’ve had no plan whatsoever and that didn’t work out too well for me either…
“I’ve been practicing and reminding myself that nothing is static.”
So there you have it. Let’ face it, it wasn’t really an epic Clash of the Titans but Synergy of the Titans isn’t nearly as cool of a movie title. But that’s what we have – two powerful and adaptive life processes that work best in concert. And Blythe is showing one way that we can be both future-oriented and in the moment to not only survive but also thrive.
Photo credit: Robert Siliato
