When Karan Bahri had me on his Big Decisions podcast, he asked how I actually think about the future, and somewhere in the answer I sent him off to his mum’s for dinner. The episode went live last week.

It’s the last of a few pieces I’ve written before the year turns, and the others were about what’s already in your diary for 2027, the junior work AI is taking on, and the first ripple.

Mum’s invited you for dinner. She does a roast you wouldn’t miss for the world, it’s on the table at six, and you’re ten suburbs away in traffic with something she asked you to pick up still to find.

You’re not going to make it by six, and you know that before the next set of lights.

So what do you do? You ring Mum and say you’ll be ten minutes late, and ask her to hold the roast.

Then you ring the shop or get it delivered, and you end up at the table a bit later than planned, hugging Mum with a plate of roast lamb in front of you.

That’s how I think about the year ahead. The table is where you want to be, the traffic is everything you can’t control, including the ripples I wrote about a week ago.

What you actually do is the ringing and the rerouting.

I call those your immediate futures, the things you can do right now that carry you through the ripples toward where you want to be. To me it’s usually three, though it doesn’t have to be.

Three is enough to feel the year shift and few enough to get done.

They won’t be perfect and you’ll probably change a couple of them along the way, and you can, because you’re changing them on the way to somewhere you’ve already chosen.

What makes a move a move

“Sort out the property situation” is a worry, and a worry hardly ever gets enough time set aside for it. “Talk to the landlord before the lease comes up” is a move.

A move starts with a verb, so “call five clients” works and “customer engagement” doesn’t.

It has one name beside it, and if the name is yours, say so.

It has a date. And at least one of your three is easy to undo, a trial or a smaller order or a second supplier on standby, so a wrong turn costs you a minute, or a week but not a year.

If all three feel big and earth-shattering, they’re probably the wrong three.

Earlier this month I wrote about the odd question nobody can justify yet, and how it deserves a name beside it and an hour a month. A move deserves the same name beside it, with a date against it.

Where to find them

Take one from what’s already sitting in your diary for 2027.

Take one from the ripples you followed out. Take one from anything you’ve been waiting on, with a date to look at it again, because waiting still moves you somewhere, so if you wait, wait on purpose.

Then write all three where you’ll see them in January, which usually means the wall by your desk and almost never the strategy document.

Choosing your three

Write down three things you could start before the break, each with a name and a date, and at least one you could undo if it turns out to be the wrong road.

Ask who gains and who loses from each of them, and who should hear about it from you first.

Keep the big move for the year, and let the three small ones show you whether it’s still the right one.

All of this is chapter 9 and Worksheet 9A in Before the Year Turns, my year-end guide. It’s A$39 and out now, and if you’re planning with a team, there are copies for everyone at a lower price each.

You might get to the table a bit later than six, but you’ll get there because there’s nowhere else you’d rather be, and because of the zigging and zagging you did on the way to make sure you could.

Choose forward.

P.S. If you’d rather work through your three with a pen and a coffee, the guide is now in paperback on Amazon, and if you’d like a short read from me every Tuesday, it’s free to join.

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Morris Misel is a foresight strategist, keynote speaker, and trusted adviser. He works with organisations to interpret what’s changing and make better decisions about what comes next. Heard by more than a million people a year on stage and in the media.

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Questions people ask

What is a move, in your immediate futures?

A move starts with a verb, so “call five clients” works and “customer engagement” doesn’t. It has one name beside it, and if the name is yours, say so. It has a date. And at least one of your three is easy to undo.

How many immediate futures do I need?

To Morris it’s usually three, though it doesn’t have to be. Three is enough to feel the year shift and few enough to get done.

Where do I find my three moves?

Take one from what’s already sitting in your diary for 2027. Take one from the ripples you followed out. Take one from anything you’ve been waiting on, with a date to look at it again.

What if all three moves feel big?

If all three feel big and earth-shattering, they’re probably the wrong three. Make at least one easy to undo, like a trial or a smaller order or a second supplier on standby, so a wrong turn costs you a minute, or a week but not a year.

Where should I write my three moves down?

Write all three where you’ll see them in January, which usually means the wall by your desk and almost never the strategy document.

Sources

Big Decisions podcast with Karan Bahri, Will AI Take Your Job? Futurist Morris Misel’s Honest Answer, YouTube, 23 October 2026.

Morris Misel, Before the Year Turns, chapter 9 and Worksheet 9A, 2026.

Morris Misel, Most of Us Stop at the First Ripple, morrisfuturist.com, 19 October 2026.