Being in the faculty geared towards the services sector (and a very touchy one to handle at times), one of my favourite activities is to talk to the people around me and find out what goes through their minds as their primary concerns, and their attitudes towards what happens around them. As a "go-getter" type of person going about my daily life, I always wondered why some people always made certain things look "smooth", almost as if things were falling into place naturally, while others struggled to decently match up to their peers. Also, it puzzled me as to why some people seem to stick to certain views, or even "tastes" in laymen terms, while others get swept away when a new wave hits town. In the end, I narrowed the causes down to the orientation a person has in the unwinding "timeline" of our lives. Where exactly are their thoughts? Are they "living in the past"? Are they forward looking? Or are they hedonistic? In this post, I hope to bring across the different characteristics of people with different time orientations and the impact on their lives.
What is a past oriented person? I would simply define it as anyone who uses his or her past experiences as a basis for evaluating most, if not all activities or choices in their daily lives. They will also compare what they see in the present with what they used to experience in the past. For example, a past oriented person would say, "in the past" or "this used to be". While such individuals tend to be associated with quite a few negative connotations, I personally feel that there is a benefit to being past oriented. Such individuals tend to take pride in their individuality as their world view tends to be shaped by their past experiences more so than people with other time orientations. Hence, they are less likely to be swept away by new fashion trends or any new fad that pretty much define today's commercialised society. Future pre-occupants in general do find a place in their awareness as they continue to compare the past with everything else that is and will be, but I don't usually hear of much actions being taken. Perhaps, the past has created an aversion for planning for the future and its uncertainties, contrasted against the past which has become known, fixed and impossible to change. Or maybe reminiscing on the past has drained them of the effort required to plan for the future. I wouldn't expect past oriented people to be the happiest of people either, as they require time to ease into changes which are becoming all too common in our current society.
Present oriented people are the ones we would associate with the term "hedonism". For one reason or another society as a whole seems to have quite a bad impression of such individuals. Especially odd given that most people would probably fall into this category. Present oriented people tend to focus more on the here and now. If I can describe their goal, I would say that they wish to experience the world around them. These individuals wish to experience things that make them happy or give them the "novelty factor". Hence, they are often at the forefront of fashion trends, or merely enjoying the moment with the joy it brings. Future pre-occupants are generally on the back of their minds as the temptations of the present are too much of a distraction, and hence even if they acknowledge the presence of looming problems, they may not take much action to intervene in it, given that their attention is directed towards the present. The past is also less relevant to them as they seek out to experience what is new to them. Hence, I would think that present oriented people are the happiest, but also less successful, and less likely to display individuality.
Future oriented people are the ones who worry about what will happen and are all about preparing for such eventualities. Especially in the domain of intervening to reduce their effects. Like good policy makers or investors, they forecast events and preempt themselves to reduce their losses or the take advantage of changes in the environment. Such people usually are the most high-achieving as they are adaptable to whatever comes their way since, well, they should have already prepared for it and all that's left is for things to happen and for their plans to be activated. However, such people will probably be the unhappiest of the lot, given that they always have additional worries from what they see to be happening in the future, which is always beyond our predictions. Also, they tend to lose their individuality given their need to constantly preempt themselves for what will happen next.
Hence it seems, the 3 orientations in our timelines will always bring its benefits and harbour its costs. I believe it is not always a matter of choice as to which we are more inclined to be oriented to, however, depending on our goals, it might be possible for us to have our perception skewed towards what helps us attain our goals in life, be it remaining happy, achieving success in our careers, or being rooted in the things we believe to be most important in our lives. Perhaps, with some balancing of all 3, it is possible to lead a life that contains all 3 elements as well, as we partition our lives and lead each segment of our lives (e.g. career, relationships and leisure) based on one time orientation.
