A futurist could look at a whole gamut of possibilities that impact them, make correlations and leverage that information to take the right steps to make improvements. However, it isn’t necessary to be a dedicated futurist to share that mindset. All you need to do is look beyond your realm and think broader.

1. Paving The Way For Success Through AFuturist Mindset
A futurist could look at a whole gamut of possibilities that impact them, make correlations and
leverage that information to take the right steps to make improvements. However, it isn’t
necessary to be a dedicated futurist to share that mindset. All you need to do is look beyond
your realm and think broader.
Key qualities of a futurist include:
• Staying up to date on trends
• Visualization/ imagination
• Applicability of the trends
• Adapting a growth mindset
• Learning from failure
At this point, you might wonder why should you even be a futurist at all? Well, those same traits
that help you plan and see trends are critical for achieving success.
Gross Personal Happiness
‘Success’ might be a goal everyone aspires to, but the bigger question to ponder over is, “How
do you define success?”. While the dictionary interprets it as ‘attaining wealth, prosperity &
fame’, I would like to define success as ‘increasing Gross Personal Happiness by achieving a
desired vision and planned goals’.
Gross Personal Happiness is a distillation of the concept of Gross National Happiness applied
on an individual level. Instituted as the goal by the government of Bhutan, Gross National
Happiness is a holistic and sustainable approach to development, which balances material and
non-material values with the conviction that humans want to search for happiness.
This concept, when applied at the individual level, potentially leads us to define Gross Personal
Happiness. I would like to give credit to the efforts put in by Anisa Virji in trying to define Gross
Personal Happiness (GPH). One can use GPH indicators to create a picture of your life, and
clearly see the path you must follow to grow, and live the best life possible.
Human Purpose Project
There was another place where the concept of GPH has been deliberated and discussed in
detail; and that is in discussions I was involved in at the World Future Society, where we were
working on the "Human Purpose Project".
The essence of those discussions was to examine whether we, as humans can have a common
purpose that drives us all together, and if yes, what would that purpose be. From the realm of all
those enlightening discussions comes the question, "How can a futurist mindset help pave the
way for success, in whatever way you define success?"

2. Success as a Futurist
If one were to look at Gross Personal Happiness, or simply "success" through the lens of
wellbeing, be it economic, environmental, physical, financial, mental, social or emotional, one
can draw correlations between such success and a futurist mindset. By understanding themes
and trends, people are better equipped to deal with unforeseen situations and plan their career.
This could potentially lead to financially and professional success.
A closer look at the qualities and the role/attributes of a futurist thinking clearly indicates that
these qualities and actions can bring about the "success" as defined above.
Key roles of a futurist
• Helping people think for themselves (like a curator, transformational leader)
• Encouraging leadership at all levels by provoking new ways of thinking
• Making sense of information
• Teaching others to shape a great future through well-informed decisions
Finding Fulfillment
A futuristic mindset allows people to not only find financially and professional success but also
their personal lives. While being financially stable is a key element of your GPH, emotional
satisfaction can be derived from helping and empowering others to make the right decisions.
Having the power to improve the lives of others comes with a powerful feeling of responsibility
that is instrumental in reinforcing one’s own personal values and beliefs. It also helps to bolster
relationships and creates opportunities to meet new people who believe in the same causes that
inspire you.
By helping others, a person with a futurist mindset would advance their lives and make them
more adept at doing things that matter to them. When people do what they are best at with a
holistic understanding of the future, it leads to the upliftment of society as a whole. Adopting this
mindset and its values can infuse your life with a more complete sense of success and makes a
real and fulfilling impact on your choices.