As sentient beings, we humans are always dwelling slightly in the future. In our relationships with other people, we have to anticipate what they are about to say or do. We predict their feelings and their attitude about us from moment to moment. When driving a car, we must anticipate what the car in front of us, beside us, and behind us are about to do. Without this glimpse or prediction into the near future we are dangerous drivers and not very skillful or graceful in our interpersonal relations. It is with some justification that we could label ourselves as homo futurus.
More generally, we human beings, as homo sapiens, are complex in our thoughts and our actions. We dwell in a three-tiered world of past, present, and future. I might be steering right now through the present-day world; however, “ghosts” of the past are influencing (even “haunting”) by perceptions and interpretations of the current world in which I am operating. Most importantly, there is anticipation of what will come in my immediate future, as well as in my longer-term future. I will defer gratification in anticipation of some future reward and will be fearful of what is just around the corner.
As professional coaches, we are in the business of helping our clients gain a clear and valid sense of what exists in their current world. This requires that our clients gain a sense of and appreciation for the way their past experiences influence their perception and interpretation of the world they now confront. There is also the matter of identifying and appreciating the ways anticipated futures influences their current perceptions, interpretations, and actions.
In this essay, I examine ways the past and future shape our current reality. I focus, in particular, on the future and what might be titled the psychology of anticipation. This psychology, in turn, is founded on an important newly identified biopsychosocial function that I have called Polystasis. I propose that this function plays a central role in the decisions our clients make and the actions they take.
Polystasis and Anticipation
Given the important function served by Polystasis, it is important to gain some understanding of and appreciation for the polystatic function and explore some of the ways this function influences diverse human behaviors and connects to both the past and present. I have prepared this essay as a preliminary attempt to provide this understanding and appreciation for the role played by Polystasis in our life, and the way we might address Polystasis and the psychology of anticipation during our coaching engagement.
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