August 8, 2022
Future Self Guide to a Better Life
Future Self
Future Self Guide to a Better Life
Future self, what exactly does it mean? What does it have to do with having a better life?
As a motivational speaker in London and keynote speaker in the UK for decades now, I have helped people accomplish their goals and live the life they want by helping them identify and connect with their future selves.
My passion is to bring people from where they are to where they want to be, inspire them, and teach them to be more than what they thought possible and to outperform themselves. That is my calling, as an inspirational, motivational speaker, and as a people’s coach.
Let me help you have a better life, read on, and learn about your future self.
FUTURE SELF DEFINED
From a psychological standpoint, future self involves everything that is connected to thinking about oneself in the future. The future self is simply the person you will be in the coming years or who you intend to become. If it is just a simple thought, why do people have difficulty deciding on who they want to be? Why do they fail to achieve their goal and settle for an unhappy life?
Most people today are living a future they do not want for various reasons. Among them are failing to prospect, not realising the choices they have, pursuing ideals of somebody else instead of their own, not having a relationship with their future self and not seeing the benefit of overcoming challenges. Does your justification fall into these above-mentioned excuses?
If you are tired of living the life that you have and want more out of life, then read on.
KNOW YOUR FUTURE SELF: SET YOUR GOAL
First, let us talk about your future self. Give yourself time to deeply think and dream who you would really want to become. Do not dwell on the limitations that you have right now. Set your goal. Do you want to be a famous superstar, a million-dollar entrepreneur, or even someone who is healthier, wealthier and has better relationships with the people around you?
You can be anyone who you want to be. The possibilities are endless if you do not limit yourself and fully use your imagination. You have choices, take advantage of them. You do not need to be the person you are today. No one prevents you from setting, and reaching for your goal except yourself, so dream big and do not underestimate yourself. Your dream, your goal will give you motivation.
Think what would happen if you do not have a goal nor the motivation? What would life be like? Nothing, your life would be pointless, going about your routine just for the sake of it and having no sense of fulfillment at all.
It is important for us to have a goal. Human beings are goal driven. Dr. Benjamin Hardy once said, “Whatever you see for your future self is the thing that drives your current self more than anything else.
BECOME AWARE
Once you have set your goal you must now become aware without judgement. Stop and think about your present self, where you are, what got you there, are you happy with your life or are you frustrated and wishing for a much better life?
Knowing where you are is your starting point and being aware of the factors that led to your current state will let you determine the course you need to take, the changes you must do for you to progress and not commit the same mistakes repeatedly.
One crucial factor in this process is that you must not blame or judge yourself for the conditions you are currently in as it would only lead you to more anxieties and further prevent you from discovering the person who you could be. All you need to do is to look at yourself with a fresh pair of eyes.
Accept your situation, let go of the issues not serving you, take ownership and be responsible for yourself. Only then will you be able to change the course of your life.
IDENTIFY WITH YOUR FUTURE SELF
Now that you have had time to reflect on yourself and have decided on who you are to become, the next thing you must do is form a relationship with your future self. Why?
If you do not bother to think and care about your future self, if you do not have that relationship then you will not have empathy nor act towards the achievement of your goal. You will not become the person you want to be.
Meg Jay in one of her talks emphasised the importance of minimising the empathy gap, and Hal Hershfield even mentioned that if we have a connection to our future self then we are going to make sacrifices today so that we have a better life in the future. Thus, having that relationship is crucial. Once we identify with our future self, we become that person.
How do you form a relationship with your future self?
You merely think that that person already exists and is living the future you want. Let him guide you every day, in every decision or every action that you take. Think how your actions will affect him. What would he say to you if you did or did not do something now?
CHANGE MINDSETS AND PERCEPTIONS
Next step you must make is to make the necessary changes in the way you perceive things. Look at everything in a positive light as there is always an unseen benefit. Take your hurdles and tribulations and think of them as things happening for you and not to you.
If we let our emotions rule; we react. When we react, we attach unfounded meanings. Instead of reacting, why not take hold of your emotions, take a deep breath, then respond. In responding we assess fully the situations at hand thus we make better decisions.
To get more insights on changing perspectives listen to my podcast episode when I interviewed Paul Nadeau. His compelling story will open your mind.
MOVE/ACT
Achieving your desired future does not stop at changing perspectives. You must move and act towards the realization of your dreams. This requires hard work, discipline, and resilience. Realise that the big rewards always come after overcoming the trials. You will not realise your future just by merely dreaming or imagining, you must put in all the needed effort. Once you put your foot forward one step at a time, never step back nor stop and you will be on your way to greatness.
Colin Deans’ story is one that will inspire you to act and be resilient no matter how hard life may be.
CHANGE HABITS AND LIVE WITH INTENT
Another challenging measure to having a better future is changing your habits and learning to live with intent. You need to look back and see what you were or are doing that led to your current state. What habits have led you to your discontentment.
You need to be aware of what you are doing to yourself, be aware of the consequences. Every action you make should be towards achieving your goal of having a better life.
Habits are things that we always do and have become embedded in our brain and part of our system to the point that we do them without thinking. Some habits hinder you from being the best version of you because you prioritize the small rewards, the instant satisfaction and comfort these habits bring.
You need to get your life back on track by changing your habits. Habit busting is difficult to do but it is not impossible particularly if you surround yourself with supportive people and have a coach to guide you. Moreover, changing one habit at a time is simpler and more achievable than taking on bigger tasks.
One effective way to go about the difficulty of changing habits is through the Stop One Start One Challenge. It is a tried and tested system that I have developed and has tremendously changed people’s lives.
This Stop One Start One system helps you develop new habits while stopping that will lead you to a better life. It provides you with a supportive community, an app that helps you set your goals and track your progress. It gives you insights, materials and coaching on how to be the best version of yourself.
CELEBRATE
Once you have accomplished your set goal, it is now time to celebrate. Celebrating your wins gives you the motivation to act and achieve more. It prevents you from going back to who you were before. It gives you a sense of fulfillment.
What now? Is reaching our goal the end of the process?
REINVENT YOURSELF
As human beings are designed to evolve thus once we reach our goal, we must dream of a new goal or an even bigger aim. We must learn to adapt to situations, continue learning and improve on ourselves, otherwise we would be nothing but empty shells, living without a purpose, without meaning.
Avoid having regrets later in life, stop missing the best opportunities, do not settle for what or who you currently are. Live to your fullest potential and be the best version of yourself, be who you were meant to be.
Take the staircase to success. Decide now, have a relationship with your future self, change your perspectives and habits, surround yourself with supportive people, act and keep on moving, keep on dreaming, always move forward and never backward. The best is yet to come if you have the guts and determination to dream big and follow it.
Remember, great life does not happen by chance. It happens by design.
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Future Self
1 thought on “Future Self Guide to a Better Life”
Thank you Pete – The journey with my future self is clear and all about the accumulation of good days. A journey begins with a single step….so much easier when doing it with my future self.