How to Predict the Future

The other day I was asked by someone who just started practicing BJJ.
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“How do I know what to do while sparring?”
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My answer was pretty standard, but it wasn’t that good, to be honest.
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It was something like:
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From your experience. You keep training, and you will learn what to do.
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This answer is not wrong, but it’s pretty broad.
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I think a better answer would be:
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By learning how to predict the future.
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Have you ever rolled with highly skilled people and felt as if they know exactly what you are going to do?
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As if they know how to read your mind and how to predict the future?
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The secret is, yes, they often do know what’s going to happen.
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Because they are the one controlling the situation and giving you the options available to you.
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Essentially, what you need to do when you roll is to narrow down the options available to your opponent until they have only one option left: to give up.
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You cannot be passive in this process. You have to take options away from your opponent actively.
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I know it’s easier said than done, but this is what’s happening in a roll/match between advanced players.
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Now, I wonder… can this principle be applied to our lives as well?
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There are way more external factors that influence our lives than the rule sets of BJJ, but I suppose we could extract the essence of this principle.
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It’s not really about what your opponent does, to which you react, but it’s more about the actions you take if you want to get a better outcome.
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The future in a real-life context is much harder to predict if it’s possible to predict at all. But the thing is… suppose you keep taking care of yourself and do things that help you become a better and stronger person regularly. In that case, you are more likely to achieve far better results based on your good physical & mental health, character, and relationships, etc.
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To be precise, it’s not really about predicting the future, hey. It’s more like deciding that you want a better future for yourself and then working towards it by taking action. (Make sure to bet on yourself that you will win.)
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I hope your 2021 will be a great one because you will take care of yourself and work hard and smart to make this year the best year ever, no matter what happens.