Module 14 · Vision & long-term thinking · Lesson 3 of 6

Your future self

The person you will be in ten years is closer to a stranger than you think — and worth being kind to.

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The idea

The person you will be in ten or twenty years will be shaped by what you do now. Yet many people find it hard to feel connected to that future self — it can feel almost like a stranger. Research suggests people who feel more connected to their future selves tend to make more future-friendly choices, such as saving or looking after their health.

People also tend to underestimate how much they will change. In one large study, people of every age expected to change much less over the next decade than people a decade older reported having changed. Your future self will likely have different tastes, priorities and even values than you do now.

Long-term thinking is about holding both truths: your future self deserves care, and your future self will be different from you. Good long-term choices keep options open for that future person, and focus on values that tend to last — health, relationships, learning, a sense of purpose.

Why it matters

Many regrets come from choices that served the present self at the expense of the future one, or from locking in plans that the future self no longer wanted. Thinking about your future self helps with both.

See it happen

Ingrid, twenty-eight, spends most of her income as it arrives. Saving for later feels abstract and joyless.

The first read

Retirement is decades away, and she wants to enjoy her life now while she is young.

With this idea

She writes a short letter from herself at fifty, describing the freedom she would like then. It feels surprisingly real. She sets up a small automatic saving each month that she barely notices — keeping her present life enjoyable and her future self’s options open.

What changed

She made her future self feel real enough to care for, without sacrificing the present.

Easy to get wrong

• Sacrificing everything now for a future self who may want different things.
• Ignoring the future self entirely because it feels far away.

What this rests on

Well studied. Researchers have studied this a good deal. The core idea holds up, though details vary between people and settings.

• Hal Hershfield — the future self — Research suggesting people who feel more connected to their future selves tend to make more future-friendly choices, such as saving.
• Jordi Quoidbach, Daniel Gilbert & Timothy Wilson — the end of history illusion (2013) — People of all ages expected to change much less in the next decade than people a decade older reported having changed.

Try it: A letter from ten years ahead

1. Imagine yourself ten years from now, having lived well.
2. Write a short letter from that person to you today.
3. Note one thing they thank you for, and one thing they wish you would start.

Reflect

• Which of your values do you expect to still hold in twenty years?
• What would your future self thank you for doing this year?

Use it in the coming days

Write the letter from your future self in your journal this week, and choose one small action it asks of you.

Where to do it: My Journal

A letter from your future self is worth keeping and rereading in a year.