Which story is true? They all are — or at least they all have partial truth. However, we human beings have an extraordinary capacity to consciously chose which truths we live in — which narrative we act from. And this is no small thing. The moment we adopt a story as truth, it starts to become truth. “Narrative is radical” wrote Toni Morrison, “creating us in the very moment it is being created.”

This is what’s known as a self-fulfilling prophecy — a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true. We’re all deeply familiar with how this works: our friend is convinced that they’re bad at math and no amount of studying will change this. Therefore, they don’t study, fail the exam as a result, and hold it as proof that they were right all along. This works on a collective level also: leading economists predict an economic recession, investors get nervous and decide not to invest, eventually leading to a recession. Due to the positive feedback loop between belief and behavior, our beliefs shape our reality in profound ways.

This tells us two things:

First, if our current reality is dysfunctional — that is, if the world we live in is not working — it means that we are operating from dysfunctional beliefs; we are living in the wrong story.

Second, it means that the Story of Now that we chose to believe will determine our destiny. “The story guides the action” said Thomas Berry. If we tell ourselves change is hopeless or unnecessary, we will act in accordance with this, and our fate will be sealed. But if we tell ourselves that a just and sustainable future is ours for the making, we’ll begin to actualize it.

Photo: © Rob Gonsalves

Polymath G. Spencer-Brown posited a theory in his book Laws of Form that claims human intelligence is capable of solving any problem, so long as we believe an answer exists and that we hold the question for long enough. Human beings longed to walk on the moon for millennia, and eventually we found a way. Today we’re on the precipice of achieving the formerly unthinkable by transcending the limitations of our physical biology through technology. “Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become reality” wrote Earl Nightingale. We have the capacity to hallucinate formerly unimaginable worlds into being, so long as we believe they’re possible and remain committed.

The notion that a just and sustainable future is beyond us is not only destructive, it’s quite simply incorrect. Not a single one of us know’s where our limits lie. And as psychologist Martin Seligman writes, “I am all for realism when there is a knowable reality out there that is not influenced by expectations. When your expectations influence reality, realism sucks.”

So, we each have a choice: which Story Of Now do we want to live in?

Before answering though, realize that this is not a passive choice; it requires you to actively live in the story you chose — to intentionally create the reality you want to live in. Choosing The Great Transition means searching for instances of a new world that exists in the shell of our old world and bringing it into your own life.

And for most of us, this is no easy task. With so much injustice, destruction and suffering in the world today, it takes courage and vision to step into a new, unfamiliar world — to find the sprouts of this new world in the rumble of our old world. This is especially true if those around us still only see an old world. You may be dismissed as naive, idealistic — people may resent you for it. Just remember Herm Albright’s advice: “a positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.”

The truth is, the ability to see and point to this new world is the source of all true leadership today. From Elon Musk to Barack Obama to Pope Francis, the true leaders of our age all embed themselves firmly, consciously or unconsciously, in the story of The Great Transition. Great leaders see the truths of their age before they become obvious. If you too wish to inspire and lead those around you — whether you’re starting a startup, raising a family, or fighting climate change — you must be able to see this new world and point and say “Look! That is where we’re headed! That is what we’re helping to create! That is why we do what we do!”

In closing, while the current state of the species can be explained through The Three Stories of Now, we can actually reduce it down further to one story; the ultimate story; the only story there ever was: light versus dark. We humans have been caught in a dance between these two forces since we appeared on this planet two hundred thousand years ago, and never in all that time has the forces of light and the forces of darkness been simultaneously unleashed so furiously, so awesomely, so terrifyingly than in the age we live in today. As Dickens wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

We now stand on the edge of time with the fate of countless species in our hands. Do we choose to deny or surrender to the destructive forces of ‘business as usual’ and seal ourselves and all life a dark fate, or do we choose The Great Transition and rise through a self-actualized prophecy into the light of a just and sustainable future?