You are in a reality that is moldable like putty and you are engaged in 24/7 non-stop warfare on how to sculpt it.
I use the word "warfare" not because this is a desirable state but because we aren't quite to the point where we might call it true co-creation -- cooperative design, or play.
As long as we are fixated or stuck into the machinations of the physical world, we are subject to the whims of all the comings and goings of the minds in the "ethereal." You might consider the ethereal your own imagination or psychic space, the collective unconscious, the dream realm, a shared psychic realm, the plane of intentions, the universal boardroom where deals are made, the universal courthouse, or the universal diplomatic embassy.
Becoming overly enamored with the physical world which is primarily done via fixation -- generally as a result of having a poor grasp of self, or incoherence within one's paradigm. Another way to identify fixation is being too attached to all your yesterdays, or too focused on all your tomorrows. While everything is "now", you want to have skillful discernment in what you "distill" from your past and what anchors you allow to guide your tomorrows.
This is how we allow tomorrow to influence yesterday, because it allows us to decide what yesterday is still useful to us in producing "now."
The ego is easier to identify when you understand that it is ruthlessly linear. It absolutely cannot let go of yesterday. It is "historic." It does not understand the virtue of forgiveness, which is being able to release yesterday without prerequisites or conditions. Forgiveness is how contrivances and seemingly unresolvable situations are resolved -- by forgiving them and letting them go. This is also the beginning of time travel.

The "hope" you retain for tomorrow represents a space that you open within yourself, like a basin laden with love or allowance. Rather than stipulating how this tomorrow might come to you in the form of plans and agendas, all you need is the hold the cup