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There are two types of tennis that can be played. Reactive and Proactive. Reactive is where the ball is coming towards you in an attacking way, all we can hope to do is get it over the net and inside the court. We are flustered, desperate and hoping for the best. There is no plan, prediction or control. We are just reacting to the opponents moves. Proactive tennis is where we are hitting the ‘winners’ – fast-paced, down the line or cross court, just touching within the base-line or a volley that stuns leaving them no-where near the ball.

I would argue that simply reacting is now not enough in today’s world. Copying or following in line with others, just making do with the situation or doing the bare minimal change is not an option. We need to be proactive. Identify trends, re-assess, change and move forwards. We need to hit that ball fast down the line – with precision, confidence and willingness. Not stand there and react – rushed, scared and helpless.

The seasons are always changing but we are scared to move in this new direction. Unwilling to commit. Fearful of whether this is where we want to head, or what the outcomes may be. Adaptation has long been around. As we evolved, we adapted to new environments. This has continued as we currently live in an era of risk and instability, with uncertainty looming around every corner. Unpredictability is added into the mix at every turn.

This acceptance is key in appreciating the importance of adaptability. It is not about using a crystal ball to make predictions about the future. Instead, it is about actively engaging in the world and noticing the changes going on around us. Then, we have to be brave enough to make a bold choice or decision.

An adaptable life is one in which we thrive when we just go with the flow, change even becomes comforting and we try new things even when there is a risk of doing so.

Rethinking Our Views About Time

The film In Time, with Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, is set in 2169 where people are genetically engineered to stop ageing when they reach their 25th birthday, when a one-year countdown on their forearm begins. At zero, the person "times out" and dies. This is a world in which time has become the universal currency, transferred directly between people or stored in "time capsules". You work for time, spend time, save time and so on. The rich earn huge sums and essentially become immortal, while the rest beg, borrow or steal to make it through the day.

This week I re-watched the film as I was keen to draw some insights from this fascinating concept. I believe, that time is the currency of our world too, although slightly different to the film of course.

We often view the world as if money makes it turn. Yet, money, which is a fairly new intervention in the grand scheme of history, has converted the original currency of time into something that is more readily exchangeable. Time allows us many pleasures, from time with loved ones, to working towards things we enjoy, time spent away on holiday and new experiences. But we often get confused as we assume that money is the thing we need for these things.

Money buys healthcare, security, nutrition and a roof over your head. However, in order to get money we must exchange our time for it. Money is therefore a trade-able, exchangeable currency in comparison to time which can't in itself buy these things; time has to be translated into money first. The film skips this translation and instead everything is brought and sold with time, money is simply not in their vocabulary. A bus ride costs an hour, a lunch 30 minutes and so on.

The film follows the story of a man, who has little time, having to work each day to survive, often only having '24 hours' in his wallet. He suddenly gets given a hundred years and travels to the 'rich part of town' where he finds that more time doesn't equal a better life. We get caught up with the fact that more money is better, but in reality we should want more time, but even then up to a limit.

I think the films concept provides many good thinking points. Do we view time as the currency? How much value do we place on money? How would things be different if they cost time and not money? Is there such a thing as too much time or money? When buying things directly with time, would it feel differently? How important is time to you?

I share more like this on my Infinity Thinking newsletter - inspiring you to think without limits. Get inspired at www.mattswain.co.uk/newsletter

We all have countless interactions with strangers every day. Sometimes, these conversations can have a big impact on people. People decide whether to give a stranger a job, put them in prison, or let them be your kids babysitter. These exchanges are fundamental to society – but are we any good at them?

What’s there to understand.

We believe that we can get inside the heart of others based on very limited information. This causes us to jump at the chance to judge strangers. Yet, we would never do that to ourselves as we understand we are complex and enigmatic.

Truth makes the world go round.

We hold the assumption that people are being honest with us. We default to truth. Society needs this to function though, imagine if we lived our lives without believing anyone. When someone defaults to truth, but is wrong, we shouldn’t punish them.

Transparency.

Because we usually have limited communication, we don’t take the time to understand the stranger properly. This causes us to make sense of them through their behaviour and demeanour.

When we confront a stranger, we have a substitute idea or stereotype of them; and that stereotype is wrong far too often.

They are complicated.

Strangers are fragile. If we are careless then what we are trying to find out, will crumple under our feet. We need to accept that the search to understand a stranger has real limits and that we can never know the whole truth.

Context.

The idea of coupling is that ideas and situations are tied to specific places. When talking to strangers we need to understand the importance of the context in which the stranger is operating. Don’t look at the stranger and jump to conclusions. Look at the stranger’s world.

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The mind is where the magic happens. Thoughts, perception, emotion, determination, memory, imagination all take place in the mind.

But do we pay enough attention to our minds, and more importantly our thinking?

Our minds are filled with thoughts every second and every minute of every day. In fact, we have thousands and thousands of thoughts each day and it’s probably the thing we do most often.

The National Science Foundation in a 2005 study found that the average person had 80% negative thoughts and a staggering 95% were exactly the same repetitive thoughts as the day before. This goes to show how our thinking stems from habits and we have fallen into some bad ones; our mental models are not working for us.

There are 3 steps we can do to improve this: 1. Thinking different 2. Focused Reflection 3. Bold actions

We have responsibility for our thinking. Winston Churchill said that 'the price of greatness is responsibility over each of your thoughts'. If we want to live life to the fullest, then care for your thoughts as if they are your most prized possessions.

Thinking without limits is all about developing our thinking. I share ideas/concepts/thoughts that will let your thoughts break their bonds and let the mind transcend limitations. Join the community and think without limits at www.mattswain.co.uk

The north coast of Cornwall is rugged, with headlands that open up onto the Atlantic Ocean. Waves power into the coast, with an almighty force, whilst many surfers await, ready to make the most of the towering water as it breaks. Obviously waves are powerful things, but there is more to their power than meets the eyes and I wanted to explore their true power.

A wave breaks when it wants, it is as powerful as it wants, the wave couldn’t care less if you’re riding it or not. There is no controlling it. It’s just you responding and reacting to the wave. Your reaction is all you can control. This creates a connection, a relationship between you and the water. One that you are a part of, but just to observe and react, all you can do is do your best and the wave will do its own thing. This connection is natural and raw, just you and the elements, nothing else is interfering or interrupting.

This connection with what’s around you and the earth, as you are riding the wave to the shore, also forms with fellow surfers riding the wave. Enjoying that same moment and experience, unique in many ways.

Read the full version at: www.mattswain.co.uk/blog/the-power-of-waves

When we think without limits:

- anything becomes possible - provides great reflection - we can understand ourselves - see new solutions to existing problems - think big, bold and different

I share insights, pose questions, quotes, book/podcast recommendations and more on me Infinity Thinking newsletter. So get inspired, sign up and level up your thinking.

http://mattswain.co.uk/newsletter

This weeks newsletter includes: This week on Infinity Thinking:

- Rethinking time, money and world currency - What do you visualise - The importance of sound (podcast) - The story of the underdog (book) - Song with a powerful message - Is Sapiens Worth Reading

And more!

Read the full version at https://www.mattswain.co.uk/blog/is-sapiens-worth-reading

Pretty much everyone recommends reading Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Tim Ferris's podcast interviewee's often say that Sapiens is the book they gift the most and Amazon's 20,000 ratings give it 4.6 stars. But, with over 400 pages of dense content, is it actually worth reading? Or is it just 400 pages of boring, unenlightened, irrelevant history? Lets find out.

Early on in the book, it became clear to me that I didn't know much about the history of humans. It isn't studied in classrooms or discussed in modern day conversations or popular content. Most people seem to shrug off how we got here and do not seem too bothered to understand. You are therefore working off a bit of a blank slate. Yuval Noah Harari does an excellent job of building up the story and scenes with visual language depicting what an average day looked like hundreds of thousands of years ago. Essentially, a detailed, visual timeline is created in your mind showing the transformation of early humans to where we are now.

In summary, this book condenses lots of research, ideas and the whole of human history into a logical, easy to read and understand, visual way that gives you an overview into a topic in which simply doesn't get taught elsewhere. I think it is definitely worth reading, although this is is not a life-changing book, in the sense you won't become enlightened or change the direction of your life. But, importantly, it does give an appreciation into how we got here. Be prepared for a slow patch in the middle and go into the book knowing that you probably have very limited knowledge of the topic and you will learn lots.

I inspire thinking without limits with my Infinity Thinking email newsletter. I share insights to get you thinking, pose questions, quotes, book and podcast recommendations. Get inspired and check it out at https://www.mattswain.co.uk/newsletter