N E W S & V I E W S • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 4 25 an appropriate and wanted trajectory. Last month, I had the wonderful opportunity to lecture to some forestry diploma students at NMU Saasvedl and was able to indirectly apply the Three Me concept to guide the discussion that ensued. As is my practice, I asked the students to explain to me just how they came to be forestry students. What led them to being here today? Of course, I was hoping to hear stories of forestry type Damascus epiphanies and clarion calls to join the profession and forever to do and die for it. Once again, the almost unanimous and rather disappointing response was: “I got a bursary”. From my perspective, this is concerning as these youngsters have not necessarily followed a calling into forestry and are rather there due to the economic circumstances prevailing and the random way the tertiary education opportunity dice fell. To the university’s credit, an interest in forestry and a desire to adopt forestry as a career path has been instilled in some, albeit in arrears of course entry. Imagine the students surprise however, when I encouraged the group to seriously consider their own individual positions and to change track soonest possible, if, what they were experiencing now, was not to their liking, or not in sync with their life ambition. Their Current Me’s would forever be unhappy if they pursued a forestry career without their heart being totally into it. Something would have to give in the not distant future and the unhappy Current Me would suffer the consequences, as well as the industry proponents who placed trust in the ostensible incoming forestry practitioner. The unhappy practitioner would forever be remonstrated by Past Me for creating a path less liked and Future Me would forever be crying out for Current Me to rally to the call for change and an amended path forward. The Three Me concept is really a useful tool, particularly at a time when we all face an era full of change, both positive and negative and often outside of our sphere of influence. We may for instance be facing the unknowns of a Government of National Unity, or the daunting prospect of retirement, or the potentially painful economic ramifications of an organisational change. We can draw strength for the Three Me’s by consciously accepting that Past Me has absolutely no influence on Current Me despite its protestations and reminders of better times previously. Those times have gone, never to return. Having dealt with Past Me, we can turn our attention to Future Me and apply similar distain to the real non-impact that Future Me has. The noises that Future Me makes to influence, have literally not even happened yet and are realistically subject to so many permutations to make those noises superfluous and mere irritations. We do, however, have every control over Current Me, and with that understanding and recognition, can block out Past and Future Me influences and take conscious decisions that benefit the only entity that really matters, which is Current Me. If one has the objective of keeping Current Me happy on a sustained and ethical basis, the quality of the decision making that Current Me takes, will be top notch. Our young students are now empowered to make a success of a forestry career, and thereby keep Current Me happy, or alternatively change direction to the same end. Prospective retirees will determine the optimum retirement solution and persons faced with economic stress will be positioned to take innovative and far-reaching decisions aimed at keeping Current Me as content as possible. Time literally flies by for everyone and whilst it is great to reminisce about the good old days, too much of this takes the focus away from the reality of change. Gone are the days when youngsters were called into a profession. The modern world hardly ever offers that opportunity any longer. Careers are entered and forged along pathways that continuously evolve and are often without precedent. Change factors appear in our pathway without warning and the monsters of stress and angst live amongst us. In my opinion, it is through focused and ethical engagement with Current Me, that we will overcome positively the unpredictability of what faces us all. Current Me provides the litmus test of our decisions. If a particular decision emphatically works for Current Me, then likely that is the way to go. If Current Me balks at the decision, then potentially one needs to walk away from it. Past and Future Me will simply have to live with the fact that they play no decision-making role and are merely there for the record. Hopefully, Current Me can guide all of us, each in an independent and innovative manner, along a pathway that leads to us leaving an indelible and positive record.
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