Befriend Your Future Self
It is easy to get caught up in the moment and make decisions based on their impact on us now. Sometimes that can result in suboptimal results for our future selves. By befriending your future self and owning your part in their well-being, you can make better choices today.
By making friends with your future self you create a better tomorrow.
Picture yourself in the future, perhaps at retirement, or maybe as you mark a significant birthday. In your mind imagine your hair colour, your wrinkles, glasses, maybe hearing aids. Are you nimble or is your movement limited? Have you gained or lost weight? Do you look happy or sad? I used AI to create an aged photo of myself!
Learn more about the future self from Hal Hershfield in his inspiring TED talk “How Can We Help Our Future Selves?”
Create a vision of that Future You and begin to cultivate a relationship with them. Make Future You come to life as a person that you love and care about, rather than a distant thought. Begin a correspondence, such as writing letters, sending emails, or a text thread. Get to know Future You, ask them about what matters to them, their fears, and hopes.
As you build this relationship, invite yourself to recognize that you have a responsibility towards Future You, that their well-being is solely dependent on you and your actions. Scientific studies show that liking, and having a sense of duty towards Future You leads to decisions that improve overall wellbeing. This applies to financial, relationship, health and lifestyle choices.
When you make decisions, pause and consider Future You. What impact will your choices have on them? Does the immediate benefit outweigh any future consequences? Grabbing fast food instead of cooking at home seems like a good idea because you are so busy, but you are signing Future You up for high blood pressure.
Conversely, is short term pain far outweighed by the long term benefits? For example, putting away 5% of your income into savings may cause you to tighten your belt and skip a few lattes now, but what impact will that nest egg have on Future You’s comfort and peace of mind?
Reach out now to Future You and ask them what they regret, what they wish they had done differently.
Does Future You get skin cancer because you can’t take a minute to apply sunscreen?
Is Future You sad that they didn’t get to play golf with friends more often?
Maybe Future You really wishes they had left that relationship.
Perhaps Future You is delighted at the flexibility they have thanks to your daily yoga practice.
Get to know Future You, make friends with them, and make a pact to take care of each other today and tomorrow.