Insights February 1st, 2023

In late-2022 I turned 50 years old. Definitely a milestone and – I’ll be honest – it feels like I am just getting started. As I reflect on life and my work as a futurist I want to share 50 short and simple lessons from my life that have fed the passion to explore a life full of love, and imagine incredible futures.

  1. Have humility and gratitude
  2. Trust your gut
  3. Share your excitement
  4. Do not say ‘yes’ to every opportunity. Qualify.
  5. Don’t bother with low value social networks – Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Snap are all garbage corporate surveillance tools.
  6. Do get that tattoo
  7. Do get microchipped
  8. Become friends with your clients and offer insights and help often
  9. Be pro renewable energy and the circular economy
  10. See the potential for change in everyone
  11. Drive electric
  12. Build and nurture community
  13. Write every damn day
  14. Invest in therapy
  15. Try shamanic journeying at least once in your life
  16. Develop your skills as a cook
  17. Spend more on clothes and waste less
  18. Invest and be excited about art
  19. Embrace the countercultures that usher in changes in how the world thinks – music, street art/graffiti, fashion etc.
  20. Learn from the dystopian stories and realities in which we live
  21. Know that futurism is activism
  22. Smash racism and sexism
  23. Promote women and elders ahead of you
  24. Listen to the kids – they are wiser than we ever will be
  25. Read ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’
  26. Wake early and sleep early
  27. Realize that you can lose everything and be comfortable with nothing
  28. Meditate
  29. Ride bikes
  30. Snowboard and/or ski
  31. Promise nothing, deliver over and above expectations
  32. Realize that everyone will underestimate you
  33. Create understanding and tolerance
  34. Know that love is real
  35. Eat more plant-based foods
  36. Enjoy that steak
  37. Be real about where food comes from and always choose organic
  38. Know that serendipity and magic are real
  39. Embrace play
  40. Exercise
  41. Listen to a wide variety of music – popular to noise to jazz to ambient to hardcore-math-tech-death-metal (and always David Bowie)
  42. Celebrate the craft of storytelling and cinema
  43. Have a ‘tickle trunk’ and get lost in a forest with 4000 other people
  44. Dance
  45. Walk in nature often
  46. Invest in lifelong friendships
  47. Know that this too shall pass
  48. Develop your own style and never falter from that path
  49. Know that there are infinite futures
  50. Embrace deep, lasting love

_______________

Nikolas Badminton is the Chief Futurist at futurist.com. He’s a world-renowned futurist speaker, consultant, author, media producer, and executive advisor that has spoken to, and worked with, over 300 of the world’s most impactful organizations and governments. He helps shape the visions that shape impactful organizations, trillion-dollar companies, progressive governments, and 200+ billion dollar investment funds.

You can preorder ‘Facing Our Futures: How Foresight, Futures Design and Strategy Creates Prosperity and Growth’ at AmazonBloomsburyBarnes and Noble and other fine purveyors of books. We’s also love it if you considered pre-ordering from your local, independent book store as well.

Please contact futurist speaker and consultant Nikolas Badminton to discuss your engagement

Facing Our Futures
headshot

Futurist Keynote Speaker and Consultant - Nikolas Badminton

CEO of EXPONENTIAL MINDS and an award-winning Futurist Speaker, researcher and author. His expertise and thought leadership will guide you from complacency to thinking exponentially, planning for longevity, and encouraging a culture of innovation. You will then establish resiliency and abundance in your organization. Please reach out to discuss how he can help you, and read on to see what is happening in the world this week.

Contact Nikolas