Accomplish More By Knowing Your Future Self
I’ve been reflecting on an idea I heard from Dr. Benjamin Hardy Ph.D. He suggests that an essential part of accomplishing our goals and living a peaceful and meaningful life has to do with being connected to our future self. That’s right. The YOU that does not exist yet, but might, though it’s obviously not guaranteed.
The basic idea is that if we can have clarity about who we want to be in the future and really connect with this version of ourselves in a meaningful way, then it will impact our choices in the present. This isn’t pie in the sky or woo woo thinking. This is about giving your mind a clear target. Once it has this target, it will start to filter out the things that get in the way of this target.
Much of my own life has been focused on avoiding things I don’t want to happen, rather than focusing on what I want to happen. Obviously, I didn’t make much progress with an avoidance mentality, because my mind was actively helping me accomplish the goal of avoidance. But when I started to consider what I really wanted, I started making more progress.
So, here is the question for today and every day from this point forward:
Who is your Future Self?
What is their character like? Who do they love? What gives them meaning? What have they accomplished? What are their habits like?
I’d encourage you to think of some version of your future self and start answering these questions. It could be 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 years out from now. I’ve even done this work with my future self who is on his deathbed and I’ve imagined myself asking him what wisdom he would give me about my life right now.
The more clarity we have about our future self, the more we can live like our future self in the present.
Dr. Hardy notes that having clarity and consistent connection with our future self is vital, because otherwise we simply drift. And when we drift we tend to get more of the same.
There is no perfect way of doing this. The main gist is that you need to take responsibility for what you really want. So, I suggest you set aside some time soon and listen to your future self, and then make a habit of coming back to this practice. Having clarity about who you want to be in the future will help you live with more purpose in the present.
Here is a great little video about working on your Future Self from Dr. Hardy.
Happy to be in your corner,
Tom
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