Future Search Planning

 

Blog

Feb. 2022.

Bridget Brown

Future Search Planning

Greetings to all!  I hope you have all been staying warm during these winter months. February is can be a difficult month because it is cold and the days are still short.  We can be hopeful because each day gets a little bit longer and we see more daylight. Soon we will see the flowers blooming and spring will be here.

 

As you might remember from my last note, I started a new inclusive college program at University of Illinois Chicago (UIC).   I am in the second month of the program.  I am very excited about it and happy that I have this opportunity.   I am learning about radical inclusion, ableism, the history of people with disabilities, and advocacy.  I am also taking a class called Career builder. It is very fun because we are doing our resume and cover page. I look forward to getting a paid internship. It is all very exciting.

Now is the time to talk about another person-centered planning tool, called The Future Search. The future search is a way to identify your goals and plan for a positive and possible future.  The best way to do this is to step into the future, about one year from today, and think about what might be the best year you can imagine.  It is helpful to pretend that it is June 2023, and I am telling someone that it was the best year ever for me.  Everything I describe has to be POSITIVE and POSSIBLE!  These are two important words because if things are positive and possible, they actually might come true.   This part is very fun because you are going to decide a few really important things that you can do on your path and then you can plan what you need to do to make these things happen.

 

For example: I am going to pretend that it is June 2023 and  I am talking to a friend and I say, “this was the best year ever”.  I will tell them 3 positive and possible things that I want to happen in the next year. 

I will say ,

“ I finished my first year of the Co-op college program at UIC and I love it”

“ I also made friends in the co-op program and did fun activities on campus.”

“And I have a paid internship at a really fun and exciting place.”

 

Helpful hints about doing a future search.

·         Talk about things like they already happened. Try to image them in your head and describe as much as possible what that might look like. 

·         Step into your future and talk about things that are positive and possible for the next year of your life.  

·         Three or less things are a good place to start so you don’t get overwhelmed.

·         This is a little different then the dream part.  You want to think of things that can actually happen in one year.

·         Be bold, hopeful and realistic!

·         Don’t worry about how you are going to do these things for now, just think about them with a clear mind. 

·         Have fun with this process!

Have a great end of winter and I will check in next month.

 

Bridget Brown 2/22/22