What a Time-Traveling Cultural Anthropologist Would Say About You

“Time is not the measure of movement, but the unfolding of meaning.”

If you could travel through time, not to change history, but to observe it, where would you go?

Would you stand in the crowd as fire was first sparked from flint and friction? Witness the rise of the pyramids? Or slip into the desert before Burning Man became a brand, when it was still pure combustion and creativity?

Time travel has long captured our imagination. It's not about spectacle; it's about context. The thrill comes from seeing the invisible threads of cause and effect, from being able to study humanity not just through data but through presence.

That’s why I often imagine myself as a time-traveling cultural anthropologist—not to write textbooks, but to witness patterns, understand people, and explore what connects vision, behavior, and change. But here’s a twist: what if the subject of study wasn’t ancient history or a distant future… but you?

The Anthropology of Self

Imagine being able to observe yourself from five years ago—not through memory, but as a neutral observer. What would you notice? Would your past self seem lost, certain, idealistic, or numb? Would you admire their courage—or cringe at their blind spots? Would you recognize the seeds of who you’ve become… or wonder how you got here?

And now imagine this: You’re transported five years into the future. You arrive in the middle of your own life, but it’s unfolding exactly as it’s currently trending. What do you see? More importantly: What do you feel?

This kind of inquiry isn’t about regret or fantasy; it’s about reclaiming the power of conscious authorship—the idea that you can design your life not from who you've been, but from who you're becoming.

The Future Isn't a Place to Get To; it’s a Place to Come From

We spend so much time chasing outcomes, milestones, relationship ideals, health benchmarks—that we forget to ask a more essential question: What would my life look like if I lived today from the future I want to create? That simple shift—from destination to orientation—changes everything. You stop measuring success by productivity and start measuring it by resonance. You stop managing your time and start leading your life. And you stop reacting to circumstances and begin responding to your calling. This is not motivational fluff. It’s what differentiates inspired leaders from reactive ones.

The most impactful leaders I have worked with aren’t just solving today’s problems; they are holding space for tomorrow’s possibilities. They have met their future self and are already living in alignment with that vision.

The Work of Inspired Time Travel

This is the work I do: I help leaders become anthropologists of their own growth. We excavate the old stories that no longer serve. We illuminate the values that have been buried under urgency. We articulate the vision that your future self already knows and teach you how to lead from that place, now. Not someday, now.

A Question Worth Asking

If you met the version of yourself five years from now, the one shaped by the decisions you’re making today, what would they thank you for? What would they wish you’d stopped tolerating sooner? Your future is not something you wait to discover. It’s something you are already shaping with every conversation, every decision, every belief you hold about what’s possible. You don’t need to build a time machine to meet your future. You just need to be willing to imagine it with radical honesty and begin leading from there. If that’s where you’re headed, I’m here for the journey. Let’s build something the future will thank you for.