The Future is HOW – Zukunftsgeist on the Road

The future is how. Have you asked yourself today, what's next for me? You're not alone. We've all felt that way at some point. My name is Frederik Pferdt, and for years I've helped the brightest minds at Google and Stanford and people around the world shape their futures. Now I want to help you to do the same. Because the future isn't just something that happens. It's something you can create. Starting right now. From within. Instead of waiting to see what happens next, let's explore how you can make it happen. Each episode dives into one key area. Like sleep, nutrition, relationships, creativity, be it storytelling, mindfulness, beauty, movement, or purpose, and brings you real stories and practical tools you can use to shape a better future for yourself. So, what's one step you can take today to create what's next? Let's dive in and explore how to build a better tomorrow, starting right now. Welcome to the Future is How, your podcast that explores a simple but profound question: How do we create a better future? I'm Frederik, and I believe the future doesn't start tomorrow. It begins from within. It's not something we wait for. It's something we shape together with imagination, with intention, and with one powerful force: our mind state. So let's step into what's next.

So unusual setting for today because we're not in the Bay Area in California, but we're in Frankfurt, Germany, sitting in a Ex-Garage, studio now. I'm Andreas. I did the music for the podcast for Frederick. It's fantastic to be sitting face to face here. And what we're doing is talking about Zukunftgeist. That's a translation of the book title, The Future Is Now. Zukunftgeist, we could say future mindset, future spirit. It's kind of a mix of both, I guess. And Frederic, you've been on tour and it's a marathon, I would say. So you're at different places every night, meeting different people every night, not over-organized the whole trip, but given the architecture of the podcast, we need to begin with the future bio because that's always an ingredient of the podcast. So usually you ask your guests. Now I have the privilege to ask you about your future bio. Where do you see yourself, like in 5 or in 10 years, especially now under the impression of your book tour?

Yes, so wonderful to be here with you, Andreas, in your wonderful garage here in the studio. And I like to ask my guests the question not about their past and past biography or past resume or accomplishments, but thinking about what they want to accomplish in the future and especially how they want to feel in the future. So thanks for that question. And when I imagine my future self, I imagine that I probably in 5 or 10 years, or I don't know what the time frame will be, that I have left a legacy around the world as maybe an ambassador of possibility, right? Because maybe in 5 or 10 years my third or fourth book is another best reader and a bestseller, and I was able to help probably millions of people reimagine their relationship with the future. And maybe to fall in love with their future again. And I know that's a big thing because I think if you fall in love with your future, right, that becomes an emotion or a feeling that is truly incredible because then you're on that path where you can't wait to live in the future. And so through maybe this podcast, maybe some workshops from maybe happening at Burning Man to boardrooms around the world, I want to inspire really that global movement of being future ready and developing that mind state that really helps you to build the future you want to live in. And I don't want to be recognized just for ideas or something, but I want to be remembered maybe from people, how they feel in my presence, so that they feel seen, that they feel hopeful, that they feel heard, that they feel empowered. And whether this is going to happen in my little geodesic dome in the Santa Cruz Mountains or around the world or here in Europe or in Asia or wherever in Latin America, I really want to reach as many people as possible to help them to have that different relationship with the future. Because for me, the future isn't found, it's created., and it really starts from within.

I really appreciate that, the distinction, really, waiting for something to happen, creating something that will happen, and to create that space. And we'll get to that, I think, in many ways over the course of this episode of the Future is How. But you're in Germany now, you're on the book tour, and I'm really, really curious. One, And where do you take all the energy from to do this? I mean, people who speak professionally know this. It is really drawing a lot of energy, this job. Every night another city and speaking occasions, invitations to other podcasts, for instance, speaking occasions on top of what you're doing promoting your book. So how do you— stand the test of time, so to speak.

Yes, I guess that's what we train for, right? That's what we prepared ourselves for. And I literally prepared for this tour intensely, right? Preparing my mind, preparing my body, and preparing my spirit. Right. And so those three elements are something that everybody can invest in, right? In terms of strengthening your body, but also strengthening your mind and just becoming self-aware of what you're feeling in those moments when you meet a lot of people. And how you can continue to really be present with a lot of people. And what I hear a lot of times is that feedback that people, when they join one of the shows or we have a moment to interact, that they feel a sense of calm, that they feel a sense of also empowerment, that they feel a sense of maybe self-discovery. And I think that's very powerful because we started out to obviously plan this as a book tour, right, to promote the book and promote the message of the book as well. To help people really to not focus on that question, what will the future bring? I think that's the wrong question a lot of people ask, especially nowadays, right? But really asking that question, what future do I want to create? And so this wasn't just a book tour. I think it became something else. I think it became a shared exploration, maybe a tour of hearts and minds in motion, right? Because we touched a lot of people. We had people that followed us like 3, 4 times and showed up for all these different shows because I think they couldn't get enough of their future. We had people that ended up in tears, not because we shared something sad, but I think because they discovered something profound in themselves. And we had people who left after 5 minutes, right? It's really something incredible to go to— I think it's 19 cities and meet thousands of people and really sparked that what we call Zukunftsgeist, that future spirit that's really within everyone.

I think it just showed me that I need to be braver or brave enough for the future. It took a while for me to be open for it, but after like feeling more calm and Looking at everyone else, like how the crowd developed, I felt more comfortable and open to adapt or adapt to my own future concept.

I would change a lot of things because my feeling was love and I want to have a lot of love in my life and I want to see it in the future.

I was shocked because of this aspect there can be more water in the glass. I love this. I'm starting to meditate again. I forgot this for a while, and while I was having this view in my future on the beach, I realized it's pretty good and it makes me feel good, so I start with this tomorrow morning. I will think of me that I have this dimension within myself And this is my power within myself, and I will go forward always having this feeling inside of myself.

It is a tough time to implement exactly that, the future spirit. One, because it's not a cognitive intellectual affair, but much rather a soul business. I guess souls worldwide tend to be hurt these days because of geopolitics, many other factors that play into this. I can only imagine what it means for people to discover here's something I can steer myself, because I would assume that a lot of the guests who came to your shows didn't have the feeling that they could do it, right?

Yeah, absolutely. I think we created those moments that really led to a different mind state and led to a movement eventually. And I remember all of those moments that happened every night after the show, right? When people come up and they either, you know, want to have a short conversation or they want to have their book signed or take a photo together, whatever it is, right? So we have usually these 45 seconds to 90 seconds or like a little longer where people share their stories with me. And so one woman really came close and whispered in my ears, and she said, like, you know, Frederick, I've been stuck in my job for 12 years, and tonight I finally saw a version of me that could do something different, right? So she really felt that she now has this permission to change the direction of her career, right? Which was beautiful. Another person came up to me with tears in her eyes and she said, "I'm recovering from cancer, right? And I haven't thought about the future in years, but something in your words gave me permission to dream again." And so that's something she shared with me, and that's a powerful, very open, and very vulnerable message that she shared with me, right? And then another person came up to me. He was in his 80s, And he said, "I'm so afraid of making the wrong choice, but tonight I realize there's no wrong choice if I choose from who I want to become," right? And so very powerful moments that I'm able to experience. And in all of those moments, right, the one thing that I realized is that I wanna be present with people, right? I wanna hear them, I wanna see them, I wanna give them a sense of, it's not about your outside world and what's happening in the world outside, and you described some of that. It's more important to go inside and feel like what you want to feel now, but also what you want to feel in the future. And that is a thing that we want to leave people with, is that they find an answer to that question: How do I want to be in the future, and how do I want to feel in the future? Right? Which is very essential because that creates clarity for people, that creates a sense of ownership about the future as well. Every night I go to bed and I'm deeply moved and I have a chance to check in with my kids, you know, who are in California. And my daughter has this great ritual. She shares 3 things that she appreciated, she was grateful for today. And so she sends me that message every evening. And so I have time to reflect as well, like what are my 3 things that I'm taking away from this day that I'm grateful for? I'm grateful for and share that with my daughter as well. So it's a good way to close the day, be grateful for what I can experience in these moments and in these 19 cities that we are visiting and meeting really thousands and thousands of people and helping them to hopefully create the future that they want to see happening.

Knowing that you are the person that practices what they preach, that means it it goes both ways. I mean, those heartfelt stories of people attending on the one hand side, but that doesn't leave you untouched, and that adds up to the energy that you have to invest again, right? Because if you mean it, it's really hard to go through that, because I can only imagine that those are not only heartfelt stories, but those are deeply emotional stories, and stories of hurt, stories of being left in the shadows, if you will. I mean, you need to be prepared for that, right?

Absolutely, yeah.

You mentioned that you prepared a long time for this book tour, which originally was a book tour and evolved into something very different, or much more, you could say. If we may look over your shoulder a little bit, how this preparation work went, because is it merely meditation, or is it preparation in different ways to get to a mind state where you are strong enough really to cover all this ground?

Yes, so there's probably a couple of things that went into that training, probably, right? First, it's physical training, really preparing the body, not just in terms of like strengthening it, but also preparing the body that it can rest when you have the opportunity to rest, right? So we are on a tour that brings us to 19 cities in 3 weeks. And so we have to drive through the night. We are playing in the mornings and we're playing in the evenings and we have afternoon podcasts or TV interviews or radio interviews and podcasts and so forth, meeting a lot of people. So you need to really train yourself to find those moments where you can rest. Right. And so that's what I'm trained for, right? I can literally fall asleep probably right now.

And I can only imagine.

Yes. And, and go into a state of relaxation. And just create some energy again, right? And I think that's very important when you are in that tour bus with your team, right? And we're in a fully electric bus, so we have the opportunity to charge not just the car, but charge ourselves, right? When we are at the charging stations, right, we either use that as an opportunity to have a good time as a team, right? And to discuss and to laugh and to cry and everything in between, but also individually to just recharge, right? And using that metaphor, when you charge charge a car, right? You can also charge yourself. So that's something—

what an image, I love it—

not just physically training yourself into like, you know, go for a run every morning or doing all sorts of things. And the other things that I did is really training myself socially. And what I mean is that you're able to connect with people, right? And I made a lot of friends, which is incredible, family members, but also new people I've never met, right?. And how can you be present in all of those moments? How can you connect with people immediately on a deeper level? That's something you can train for and practice as well. And you can even use AI for that, right? There's a couple of great prompts that you can use to help you prepare for asking good questions and appreciate other people, give compliments and all of those things. So that's how I prepared socially. And then mentally, meditation is a great way to just create that clarity, right? To become self-aware, like, what are you feeling at the moment? Are you feeling restless? Are you feeling energized? Are you feeling sad? Or whatever that emotion is, right? And just recognizing that and being able to also shift, right? If you're feeling restless, how can you feel more calm, right? If you're feeling sad, how can you feel a little bit more happy, right? And that's something you can also train yourself in. There's other things that you need to really be conscious about, which is like nutrition, right? I love my matcha tea in the mornings, or kind of like when I go— before I go on stage, I have my little matcha tea ritual that I use, or eating a banana, for example, which is just a moment of focus, gives you good energy, it gives you a ritual that allows you to now go out into the into the space with people and be present and so forth. So those are a couple of things that really helped me to prepare for that. And things that we also practice, they're part of the book, right? I talk about, for example, openness. And so we have not scheduled or booked any places to stay, right? So we just stayed open and said like, okay, maybe we're gonna stay a little longer in a city or we're gonna drive through the night, whatever it is. And sometimes I showed up at my friend's place place if we didn't have a hotel or another place to stay. And so that openness is really something beautiful that you can practice as well. And then curiosity is another thing that we really took on the tour because we were all curious about the people that we're going to meet, about what's on their mind, what are some of the challenges they have, what are some of the things, some of the stories they want to share with us as well. So that curiosity is something that we really practiced on the tour as well. And the last one is probably experimentation, right? So we played every show differently. We tried something new every night, and that just helps us to learn and continue to grow as a team and as the experience grows as well for people. So openness and curiosity and experimentation are things that we really not just give people as a way to live their lives, but we basically practice on this tour too.

All these are puzzle pieces for building a future and for envisioning a future and training a future as well. I love those segments and I'd be interested in two things. One, concerning the diet because you referred to the matcha tea and the banana and so forth. What's your take on nutrition?

Yes, for me, it's important again to be open and to be curious and try something new probably in every city that we are, right? There's very good local cuisines that, you know, you— experience in Switzerland, in Austria, in Germany, in the different cities, and just being open, right? And try something new and not fall into that trap of like, I only eat, you know, certain times or I only eat certain types of food and I only eat alone, right? So certain times, certain types, and only eating alone are things that create that autopilot, right? That I don't want to be on. And so I always like, you know, eat at different times than eat different types of food, right? And trying to make that a social experience as well, right? Eating with friends or eating in different places, outside, inside, all of those things just, I think, keeps it fresh in that regard. It's fresh for your mind, but also fresh for your body as well.

Very interesting. Concerning the openness that you mentioned, I would love to have a little follow-up in a sense of storytelling, because I can only imagine when you're on the road, 19 cities, and you don't book stuff, you know, that Maybe you get stranded, maybe you meet people with extreme hospitality, for instance. And I'm sure you got a little story for us.

Of course, there are many stories. Yes, maybe two stories that might be interesting. Yeah. One night we drove through the night and a couple of chargers didn't work. So we had to kind of like improvise and it took 4 or 5 hours longer. So we ended up arriving in Berlin at, I think it was 7:30 in the morning. Beautiful sunrise, you know, driving into Berlin. And it was a Saturday morning, and so, you know, I shared the idea that maybe we could go into Berghain for, um, you know, a morning dance. Absolutely, yes. So we— I lined up at 7:30, showed up at Berghain in Berlin, and yeah, they said welcome, and we had a couple of hours of a morning dance, right, just with sunrise. And then I crashed at a place with my friend in Berlin, and you know, slept in till probably 12 or 1, and that was just beautiful because that was unexpected, not planned. But being open to those opportunities is just a really great way of living, I guess. The other thing just happened a couple of days ago when we drove to Stuttgart. It was already, I think, 12 or 1 AM in the morning, and we wanted to book a hotel, but a whole city was literally booked out. A football game or fair, something. Yes. So literally no hotel. So what are you going to do, right? You end up thinking about like, okay, how can we all sleep in that little tour bus, which would not be ideal because next day you're going to be on stage again and you want to look fresh and you want to again have a specific presence as well. So we literally drove around the city and we called, I think, 4 or 5 hotels. Until one hotel said like, okay, we might have a room, we're not sure. And we asked like, why are you not sure? And they said like, yeah, because the people just have left. And that's what they thought. And so it was a great opportunity. The people left 3 a.m. in the morning. They literally like turned over the room and at 3:30 in the morning we could find a couple of hours of sleep. Right. And we just laughed and we just, you know, find this way of saying like, you know, never lose your humor and like your openness and curiosity. And I really I really don't like if we plan too much, right? Plan too much in advance, because then you're just running behind a plan. And if things turn out to be not going according to plan, you're frustrated, right? So that frustration never shows up if you don't have a plan. It's such a wonderful thing to have a team with me that also practice that openness and that curiosity and is always open to do something different and something new. So I deeply appreciate that.

This is so fantastic. And apart from envisioning a future on an individual scale, this is a recommendation for book presentations, book tours. It just reminded me of a band on tour in the 1960s, '70s, probably, you know, not planning too much. And if you don't plan, you meet people and you get into conversations. That's obvious. And it's really a hint for people not overplanning things. So, Frederik, one of the fixed segments of the future is how, obviously, is—

Next, let's take a moment to pause and reconnect. This is your mindstate moment, a chance to reset and come back to yourself wherever you are right now. These moments of presence are powerful. They remind us that the future starts from within by shifting how we show up in this very moment. Perfect. Yeah, I might share a mindset moment that we experimented with on the tour as well, and just want to invite people to just— let's take that moment just for you, right? That's the purpose of that, is that you invest a couple of minutes just for you to feel more energized. You feel a sense of calm, you feel a sense of clarity maybe as well. So wherever you are, walking or resting, maybe riding the train, just take a slow breath in. And out. And now ask yourself gently, how do I want to feel in my future? Not what you want to achieve or check off, but how you want to feel. Deep inside your body. Maybe it's peaceful, strong, inspired, loved, free. Let that one word just rise up. No need to force it. Just notice. Now I want you to picture your future self feeling exactly that. You're walking along the shore, waves roll in and out, steady and soothing. Maybe the air tastes like salt and Maybe possibility. And I want you to imagine that you bend down and write that one emotion in the wet sand with your finger. Strong. Peaceful. Inspired. Free. Or loved. And let it be your reminder, your invitation, your truth. And watch the ocean come close, almost touching it, but never washing it away. Now take another breath as this future version of you with that emotion on that beach. And gently say to yourself, "This is already inside me.

I'm already becoming who I want to be." I need a little moment to get back to where we are. You want to know what I picked?

Please, yes, please share, yes.

I thought I would pick something like, you know, free or so, but I picked loved because I felt at that moment that for me, one of the really energizing factors in my life is when I feel loved most. And to me, as somebody who's making music, for instance, you know, creativity actually comes with being loved very strongly. And so I, I was really fascinated by— I mean, I guess a lot of people would pick free or other things you mentioned, but for me it was really loved.

Fascinating. So that's the question, yeah, everybody can ask themselves, like, what do you want to feel more of in your future, right? And if it's love, free, maybe a sense of calm, all of those are very important emotions because the future is an emotion, right? We're human beings. And sometimes we, when we think about the future, we think about bigger house, the faster car, more money, or a better relationship, or health, whatever it is. But all of those are related to an emotion, right? That house might be an emotion of safety and homecoming. That faster car might be, I want to be seen, right? I want to be recognized in the future, right? This notion of thinking about a relationship that you want to have, right, is about maybe feeling loved in the future. And the most important question now, I think, is what's the one small step you can take today to feel just a little more of that. Because we can't make other people love us more. We can't force other people to give us more, right? But we can take a small step in that direction so that we can share a little bit love with others. We can reach out to other people. We can tell them that we're grateful for that they're in our lives and so forth. And it's with every choice we make, with every action we take, that we can go on that path towards the future we want to live in, with that emotion that we want to feel.

Frederick, we have to talk about something else, because in a sense we come to the closing of the first series of podcasts, The Future Is How. Maybe it's also a good chance to look back a little bit, but also it's maybe a good chance to try to look into the future because that's what you do. I can only imagine there are probably zillions of aspects of talking about the future, and that said, zillions of potential guests, you know, who might join the show.

But first off, what do you look back on very fondly Yes, I feel very grateful that I was able to invite people that really not just ask great questions, but they give us some ways in how we can create a better future. So, you know, if you look at sleep, for example, right, and what the research shows you, that sleep is really a powerful way of creating a better future for yourself. Right. And sleeping better and invest in that quality of sleep is something that goes a long way, right? If you want to create a better future for yourself or that notion of beauty that we heard of, right? What is beautiful in our lives and how do we perceive beauty as well? And the power of that is, is also that we can now ask ourselves, how do we want to create a more beautiful future? Right. Which I think is a wonderful question to ask yourself. And then relationships, right? Obviously, that's what we learned, is that if you want to live a longer life, a more fulfilled life, and a happier life, relationships really matter, right? The quality and the quantity of your relationships are essential. And so the question is, how can I create more relationships? How can I create better relationships in my life and for my future?? And then how can I inspire other people, right? I think inspiration is something very powerful to feel inspired by others, but also how can you inspire other people, right? And it doesn't have to be always the big ideas that you share with others, but like just how you show up with other people, right? How you be present with other people. So sleep and beauty, relationships, inspiration, And many other things that we explored, I think, are different paths towards a better future that we can create.

Frédéric, coming to a close for this episode, if you had to pick one item, because soon-ish you'll be going back, what do you pack as an extra in your bag going back to California? What will be the item shaping, defining your future?

Future? Yes. I don't think there's a going back to California. I think there's only a going forward. So I love that. Moving forward. I take probably 3 things, right? The first one is the memories of those moments I had with people, right? The little stories they shared with me, the hugs, the high fives, you know, all of those, I think just just give me energy to move forward with that Zukunftgeist or that future spirit that we want to ignite in literally everyone on this planet. The second thing I take with me is the moments with my team. We had very intense moments, all of those beautiful, you know, which helped us just to form as a community, as a team where where people went above and beyond with everything, right? And I think I'm just deeply grateful to have those people in my life. So that's the second thing I take with me. The third thing is maybe a question that I take with me, right? And that is, how can we help more people in the world to build a different relationship with their future, a relationship that is powered by love, by openness, curiosity, empathy. So taking that question with me, I think, gives me hope, and it gives me also maybe some experiments that we want to try in the future as well. So it's moments with people, it's my team, and it's the question that I'm taking with me forward.

And, you know, sometimes it's language, going back to California, going forward. I'll keep that in mind. Thank you so much, Frederick. Can't wait for the next podcast, for the next newsletter, and eventually the next book.

Of course. Thank you so much, Andreas, for having me. If you want to learn more, sign up for Next Letter. Your one-to-one with your future. One question, two perspectives, and one experiment to step forward. It arrives every other Friday. Just when you need it. If you want to test how much future spirit lives inside you, try our future awareness test. It's playful, surprising, and might just reveal something powerful about the way you see what's next. Ready to find out? awareness.frederikgfurt.com