Review of Jordan Peterson’s Future Authoring Program
This summer represented my last summer before graduation. Starting May of 2021, I am going to have to be an actual adult. Scary. At some point, it seemed like a good idea to figure out what I wanted my future to look like. So, I took a break from writing medium articles to instead write in the Future Authoring program. This review gives an overview of the program, my experience completing it, and my thoughts on it as a whole.
The Self-Authoring Suite explained
The Self-Authoring Suite is a series of online writing programs that collectively help you explore your past, present and future. — Quote from website
The Self-Authoring Suite was developed by three doctors: Jordan B. Peterson, Daniel M. Higgins, and Robert O. Pihl. Jordan Peterson needs no introduction. Daniel Higgins has experience in both psychology and software development, with a research emphasis on how thought processes affect the workplace. Robert Pihl is a professor of psychology at McGill University and has received several prestigious awards for his work.
The program was designed to help a person gain a clearer understanding of the trajectory of his or her life. To accomplish that, the program would ask the writer a series of questions relating to their life, and the writer would then respond with their thoughts. The act of writing would allow the person to streamline their thoughts and have a concise record of their anxieties and desires. The self-authoring suite was broken down into four parts, Future Authoring, Past Authoring, Present Authoring-Faults, and Present Authoring-Virtues. This paper was written about the future authoring program.
why I did it
I am currently a senior in college, and I have been nervous about the direction of my life. The “real world” is coming soon, and I need to be prepared for it. I wanted some guidance for what direction I should head. There was a path laid out before me by my family and friends, but I thought it would be best to consult myself and see what I wanted to do with my life. I needed to figure that out for myself. I attempted the future authoring program to obtain some ideas of how I wanted to live my life.
What the process for answering the questions was like
The process for completing the future authoring program was fairly straightforward. A question would be presented to the writer and then the writer would fill in his or her answer in the text box below it. Some questions were simple and open-ended while others were more specific and complex.
The first half of the course pertained to the realization of the writer’s ideal future. The prompts were designed in a way so that the writer thinks about what they want their future to look like. The prompts dealt with the writer’s future career, family, social life, and habits. Not all prompts, however, directly asked the writer what he wants for the future. The first prompt asks the writer to choose one thing they do better. The last prompt asks the writer to state the future they wish to avoid. The prompts in the first half were designed to help the writer identify what they wanted to have and the qualities they wanted to inhabit.
The second half of the course pertained to specific goals to be achieved. The writer was prompted to list 6–8 goals they have for life. Then for each goal, the writer provided the following: motives behind the goal, the personal and social impact of the goal, strategies for attaining the goal, identifying obstacles, and how progress will be monitored. These goals were meant to be more concrete than the ones in the previous section. This part of course is all about setting big life goals and creating ways to achieve them.
As shown in the image, the UI for the self-authoring suite was simple. I personally would have preferred a screen with less of a “blank word doc” look and better usage of screen real estate, but the simplicity does help keep the writer from being distracted while writing. It gets the job done.
My results
The first half made me think about what I thought about the world, and what I wanted for my future. The prompt “Things to learn about” helped me think about the different areas I want to learn about, subjects where the process of learning is as important as the destination. The prompt “Qualities you admire” made me think about what I want my character to be like. With the prompt “A Future to Avoid”, I thought about what things I wanted my future to be devoid of, rather than what I wanted it to contain. The first half of the future authoring suite provided a good way to think about the broad aspects of what I wanted to have in my future.
I had some issues with the second half due to its monotony. the prompts of this section blurred together with the writer answering the same questions but for each goal they set. This lead to some boredom where I just “went through the motions” for each prompt. The questions provided important things to think about, but answering the same thing over and over again for different goals was boring. I also gave goals more abstract than the program probably wanted, and this lead to some difficulty in planning how I would achieve my goals. That was my fault, however, and I do not blame the program for that.
Now, that’s not to say that I didn’t get anything out of the second portion of the program, because most of the prompts asked the writer to think of processes for achieving their goals. I wrote down some goals that I had not thought of ways of measuring or implementing into my daily life. The second half reminded me that I needed to formulate systems for my goals. I couldn’t just say that I wanted to do something, I had to break that down into actions I could take each day. For that, the second half was beneficial to have completed.
My biggest issue with the future authoring program was its focus on goals. Goals have their benefit, but they should not solely determine a person’s direction in life. I believe a person should create an identity they want to inhabit and then build systems to achieve them. This idea was described in the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. Goals can lead to tunnel visioning, and missing the other opportunities or callings in life. Goals can be helpful, but it is better to determine the type of person you want to be and then implementing a system that helps you get there.
we don’t rise to the level of your goals we fall to the level of our systems — James Clear
I found myself taking a long time to complete the future authoring program, much more than the advertised 4 hours. If you already have a good idea of what you want to do with your life, I am sure it will go quicker. but if you are someone that needs time to contemplate, I think this will take a while to complete. In total, I wrote 11,207 words.
Overall, The self-authoring suite helped me identify some of the things I wanted out of life. Although it took me a while to complete, I am glad that I partook in it. The future authoring suite does not really provide insight into “how” to achieve those goals, but that is not it’s purpose. The purpose was to find the “why” for life, and for that, I think it did a good job.
Conclusion and parting thoughts
The future authoring section of the Self Authoring Program helps the writer. The first half does a good job aiding the writer is thinking about the broader desires for their future. The second half goes into more specific goals and systems for achieving those goals, which was a bit boring but still beneficial. If you feel lost in life and are not sure what to do, I do recommend taking the future authoring suite. Although not perfect, It does a good job helping the writer formulate what they want out of life and what you can do to achieve their goals.
Another option for finding direction in life would be Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. I personally have not read the book, but it has good reviews and Bill Burnett gave a good Tedx Talk on the subject.
TL;DR
The future authoring program does a decent job helping individuals formulate ideas, goals, and systems for their desired future. Although it revolves heavily around goals and can be a bit monotonous, The program is thought-provoking and beneficial to have done.
