Don’t you wish you could talk to your younger self? You could let yourself know how life is, what mistakes not to make, how to get ahead, or that you should invest in that little start-up Google.
What about hearing from yourself in five years time? Leave a message for yourself now, and then read or hear that message in five years.
You can say all sorts of things. Make threats – “you’d better not be doing something you don’t like”, or“you’d better not be smoking again”. Remind yourself of what life was like, who you were best friends with, what you were doing on that day.
More importantly, you can ask yourself – are you living the life you want?
(Apparently careers websites thrive off this sort of thing too)
I really wanted to share this idea because it can be something amazing. Use it to inspire. Right now, work out what you really want and hold yourself to it. Hear from yourself on your birthday as a nice surprise. It doesn’t have to be five years either, it’s your choice as to when you hear from yourself. Set your goals and aims, and work towards those aspirations.
I’d love to hear your message to yourself and feel inspired by your own goals and aspirations. Even if it’s an abridged version that hides personal stuff, give it a go! My own message will be in the comments below.
Ed note: Since writing this I got a Twitter message with a link to EmailFuture. This site offers a free way to send yourself emails in the future. It might be worth a look.
Enjoy this? If you want to take action, subscribe to my RSS feed or subscribe to free email updates for The New Man Of Action!
#1 by Tristan Rayner on May 20, 2009 - 12:04 pm
My own message: Tristan – you’d better be happy because right now you’re inspired! Your goals right now (or 5 years ago for you) aren’t specific – take risks, explore, take a chance – just take action. Hopefully, even if you’ve lit 100 fires but only one has caught, I think you’ll be feeling the benefits. You’re not motivated by money (your blog today doesn’t even have any ads!), you’re motivated by feelings of fulfillment. I hope you haven’t settled but have taken strides towards your passions. I hope you are who I want to be in five years. It won’t be luck, but hard work that makes it.
Ps. If there’s any way for you to come back in time and let me know what did work, that’d be helpful!
#2 by Chris Thurmond on May 21, 2009 - 10:04 pm
great video and an amazing idea. making commitments to yourself is always helpful. This serves as a great little ritual that helps align your intent with what you deeply want to do, outside of your daily mood swings and habits. Great post.
#3 by Bakari on May 22, 2009 - 9:53 am
I would love to have a sit-down with my former self and ’school’ him on a few things. I may be schooled in a few things myself. But that’s going to far down the ‘rabbit hole.’
On another note, I am currently reading Nassim Taleb’s book, “Fooled by Randomness” and he discusses the topic of learning from hindsight and from history and his assertion is that we rarely pay attention to lessons learned by others.
He uses the Great Depression as an example and states that even though there are many indicators of economic recessions and a breakdown in our financial sectors, many people have the tendency to not include themselves as potential victims.
I haven’t pondered his hypothesis too deeply but I do cherish my life as it is and even though I have made mistakes and have regrets my inclination would be to leave myself alone
Thanks for the EmailFuture tip!!!
#4 by Tristan Rayner on May 22, 2009 - 10:57 pm
@Chris – The video is interesting isn’t it, sums it up nicely. Thanks for reading!
@Bakari – Very interesting comment, I’ve added Nassim Taleb’s book to my bookmarks. I always remember when I was younger; I was perplexed about why we were bothering to learn about historical things that just didn’t seem to have great importance anymore.
My teacher at the time said, and I’ll never forget: “We study history to avoid mistakes that have already been made”.
Perhaps that was a quote taken from another, but it always stuck in my mind.
My pleasure to lend you a tip. Thanks for the great comment.
#5 by lively carson on May 27, 2009 - 8:28 am
i really think that the video was EXTRAORDINARY!!