What I Learned from Back to the Future
A list of “what I learned from Back to the Future” could be endless. A shorter list might be “what you can’t learn from Back to the Future.” Instead of focusing on the many lessons that Doc and Marty can teach us, there’s just one that I find most helpful.
Your choices today have a direct impact on your life tomorrow.
Though we can never go back in time (at least not until Apple invents a real time machine) the plot of each Back to the Future movie provides a telling illustration. By simply altering one moment in time (Marty pushing his dad out the way of the car, old Biff giving young Biff the sports almanac or Doc falling in love with Clara Clayton) the future of each character was dramatically altered along with the future of all those around them. Every choice each character made had a direct impact on everything.
Perhaps we are not facing a high school rival taking over the world. No matter what the current circumstances, leaders would do well to remember that the consequences and rewards of our choices will not only impact our own future, but the future of those we care about the most.
Everyday Choices
It’s easy to relegate this lesson to only the most monumental of choices. However, monumental decisions are a reflection of our life choices in the everyday. In what area of our lives can we apply the idea that our choices matter so as to create healthy habits to influence our monumental choices?
It’s crazy to me how powerful our habits are for our future. I am not sure you can ever tell in the moment when you’ve just made a life-altering decision, but I do know that you can sit back and look at your daily habits. Looking at those and trying to see what trajectory you’re on can be sobering or encouraging (depending).
TRUE! I was talking with a friend the other day about the criteria I employed for dating after several failed relationships. He commented that it was wise and could have been the difference maker between marrying my wife (whom I love dearly) and marrying someone who would not have been a good match.
3 little lines of criteria changed my entire life.
Thanks Cody for taking the time to comment!