What We’re Reading This Month: WHAT’S NEXT IS NOW: How To Live Future Ready by Frederik G. Pferdt (on-sale June 18)

Many people are worried about the future. We face intractable global problems and daunting personal concerns related to work and life, and the constant change and uncertainty we experience drive stress and anxiety. We brace ourselves for what happens next.

 In this exciting and optimistic new book, Frederik Pferdt argues that instead of fretting over what could happen in THE future, you should think hard about what should happen in YOUR future. He says that while your future may feel far away, you build it in the present with the choices you make every day. In his book, he shows readers how to navigate uncertainty with intention, leverage change to your advantage, and make choices that will build the future you hope for, rather than one that just happens to you.

Frederik—a self-proclaimed “future optimist” who lives in Santa Cruz with his family—draws on his experience as Google’s first Chief Innovation Evangelist and the stories of over a dozen Googlers he trained to be ready for the future. Interestingly, while he honed his perspective at one of the world’s largest technology companies, he says that being ready for the future is not about technology. It’s about your outlook and how you are in the world—what he calls having a “future-ready mindstate.” While a “mindset” is a fixed attitude that tends to be hard to change, your “mindstate” is a more fluid perspective that influences how you experience the present and the choices you make about how to respond in each moment. If your head is in the right place, you will be ready for what happens next, poised to take on whatever comes your way and to create more opportunities. In WHAT’S NEXT IS NOW, readers learn the six dimensions of the future-ready mindstate, the secret to igniting the potential the future represents. Radical optimism (1) focuses on what could go right instead of what might go wrong, which helps you see opportunities in unexpected situations. Unreserved openness (2) makes change your friend and helps you embrace the unknown, where the most exciting opportunities await. Compulsive curiosity (3) moves you to explore and understand new things and ideas. Perpetual experimentation (4) transforms fear of failure into the thrill of learning and allows you to test possible futures. Expansive empathy (5) reminds you that you’re not alone and makes your choices more purposeful and life-centered. Finally, your Dimension X (6) is your unique superpower or signature reflex that makes big things happen. The book includes inspiring stories, practical tools, and provocative exercises for developing muscle memory for each dimension of the future-ready mindstate.

WHAT’S NEXT IS NOW will be released on June 18 and is already gaining attention. The Next Big Idea Club named it a “must-read” book, Dan Pink called it “a profoundly optimistic guide” and Guy Kawasaki called it “a transformative guide that empowers readers to harness their innate strengths and actively shape their destinies.”

You can pick up your copy at his launch event at Bookshop Santa Cruz on June 18, or pre-order a signed copy in advance.