We’ve all seen science fiction movies that depict our earth worse than we currently live in. The cities look more polluted. It’s almost a prerequisite that our computers and machines will be ruling us.

There’s an old saying, if you want an apple from an apple tree, the best time to have planted that tree was twenty years ago. The next best time would be now. Here’s the reality. We aren’t on this earth on our own. We aren’t floating through time and space on our own either. We have a connection. We have a link with other human beings. We have a connection to previous generations of humans.

We are also connected to future generations.

Have you ever wondered how small decisions impact our lives? What we do today does affect our grandchildren.

I’m sure our grandparents dreamed of what the future would look like. My grandparents moved from Chicago to north central Indiana. They did that for the sake of their future children and future grandkids. By my grandparents making the choice to move, it meant that I would grow up in the city or house that I did. What decisions did your grandparents make that may have made that currently affect you today.

My wife’s grandmother recently passed away. At her funeral, someone mentioned how many events she saw in her lifetime. My 38 years don’t even come close to seeing the vast advancements she witnessed. I believe my grandchildren will see the same amount of technology in their lifetimes as well.

I was born in 1981. The same year of the floppy disk. I graduated from high school in 1999. I know how to use a rotary phone unlike these guys.

Let’s also take the evolution of music for example. Throughout my 38 years of life, a person could listen to music on vinyl, 8 track and cassette tapes. Compact discs eventually became accessible and affordable. I can’t remember the last time I purchased a CD. I don’t know the last time I bought an album. I now pay $10 a month to listen to the music I enjoy.

I am confident that some of what we have become accustomed to is beyond their imagination. Our ordinary, everyday lives displayed as science fiction a few decades ago.

So let’s play a game. Fast forward 100 years. What do you think we’ll see? Here are my top 3 predictions of what we’ll learn in 100 years.

1. Cell phones will be the cigarettes of our generation.

We really don’t know the health impact of cell phones yet. We are pretty early in the life of smartphones. All the signals that are going from and going to our smartphones have to have some impact on our health. There are some studies already about health impacts. A Google search of ‘potential health impacts of smartphones‘ renders 10,5000,000 search results!

Will future generations look back and wonder what in the world were we thinking? How could we have seen this as ok?

I’m wondering if the French government isn’t onto something. They have banned cell phones at their schools. I spend at least one day a week at a local school. The cell phones rule the classrooms.

I used to work at a manufacturing plant. One of the biggest struggles I had with my team was over the use of their smartphones. I fired so many young employees during that time. One of the main reasons was because they couldn’t keep their phones out of their hands as production ran.

2. Plastic will be our generation’s black smoke clouds of the industrial revolution.

Single-use plastic is killing our planet. We have to realize this. Most of us reading this blog live in a world where we ship our trash off. Someone picks up our trash and removes it from our house. That trash has to go somewhere though.

Last week, I met the owners of a new company in our area. Reeden Company is creating sustainable solutions to replace single-use plastic options. Let’s face it, we use single-use plastic because it’s cheap. Sustainable solutions will be an investment for us.

Our current reality was largely influenced by our grandparents. What kind of world do we want our grandchildren to live in? What kind of apple tree will you see in twenty years based on your investment? What are you willing to invest today for a better tomorrow?

3. Future generations will reject social media.

Social media as we know, will end. Facebook is only 15 years old. Instagram is only 9 years old. Snapchat is only 8 years old. Twitter is only 13 years old. I know it seems like we can’t survive today’s culture without these platforms. When will we stop caring about everyone’s approval and NEED to see everyone’s posts?

One of my friends Torrey said she only remembers this routine.

Wake up.

Grab her cell phone.

Open Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and see what she missed out on while she slept.

As a result, Torrey deleted all her accounts. She now has more mental space and the ability to focus throughout her day.

Will employers force employees to leave smartphones at home instead of at work?

Social media will go away completely. Future generations will learn to break from the addiction we can’t seem to shake.

I am extremely hopeful about our future. I believe that we are one generation away from greatness. Imagine if we as adults can model how to use technology with balance and boundaries. Future generations can build on our example.If we as adults can model how to use technology with balance and boundaries, future generations can build on our example and use technology to plant, cultivate and prune a culture that will embrace our full potential.

What seemingly simple decisions can you make today that will empower future generations? What simple decisions could you make that will plant the seed for a tree that your grandchildren will benefit from?

Don’t hope for it.

Don’t wait for it.

Do it.

Photo by Dexter Chatuluka on Unsplash