Why You Need to Friend Your Future Self
Think about you!
Yes, you. Where do you live? Who do you live with? Where do you work? How do you spend your free time? Now picture yourself in 10 years. Where do you live? Same place? Who do you live with? Are you working?... Do you have the same occupation?
Think about you!
Yes, you. Where do you live? Who do you live with? Where do you work? How do you spend your free time? Now picture yourself in 10 years. Where do you live? Same place? Who do you live with? Are you working?... Do you have the same occupation? How do you spend your free time?
In 2008, UCLA psychologist Hal Hershfield, Ph.D., conducted a study asking similar types of questions and found people commonly had two different neural patterns when thinking about the present versus the future: The first neural pattern: "I'm thinking about me". The second neural pattern: "I'm thinking about a stranger".
How you identify with your future self is called "self-continuity". Because many of us are not well connected to our future selves, we make decisions that maximize our current selves, and leave our future selves in bad shape. Check out this short article from Men's Health for more.
An example of this sort of behavior: On Friday watched the Atlanta United game with friends. As the game wound down, I ordered a parting drink. I certainly did not need it, and I had already scheduled an xfit workout the following morning. I failed to contemplate how my future self (only 8 hours into the future) was going to deal with waking up early and feeling crappy for my work out.
Get to know your future self and accomplishing your goals can be simpler than it seems.
Saving now, for either a short term goal such as a vacation, or a long term goal like retirement can seem vexing. And it will require a short term sacrifice. But your future self will appreciate it.
Here are a few things to get in touch with your future self:
1. Write a letter to your future self
2. Take a picture of yourself and run it through agingbooth or faceapp
3. Tap a surrogate, like your mom/dad, or someone with a similar job
4. Schedule a time with me and let me help get you connected
YOUR FUTURE SELF IS LOOKING FORWARD TO MEETING YOU!!
Lets schedule a quick 20 minute call to work on getting you to acquainted.