What Would Your Future Self Thank You For?
There are days when the hardest part of change isn’t knowing what to do.
It’s doing what we already know.
We know we need to have the conversation.
We know we need to put the phone down and get some rest.
We know which boundary needs reinforcing, which habit is draining us, which opportunity we keep talking ourselves out of.
And yet, in the moment, the version of us who is tired, overwhelmed, uncertain or seeking comfort often gets the final vote.
This is where one of my favourite questions comes in:
What would my future self choose here?
Not the perfect version of you.
Not the version who has everything figured out.
The version of you who has lived through the consequences of the choices you are making today.
Your future self has perspective you don’t yet have.
Imagine yourself a year from now.
You have had another twelve months of conversations, decisions, setbacks, risks, lessons and growth.
Some things that feel enormous today may barely register.
Some things you keep postponing may matter far more than you realise.
And some of the small choices you make repeatedly may turn out to be the very things that changed everything.
What does that future version of you know?
Perhaps they know that saying no didn’t damage the relationship.
That taking the opportunity was worth the nerves.
That protecting their energy wasn’t selfish.
That consistency mattered more than intensity.
That they didn’t need to feel confident before they began.
That no one was coming to give them permission.
There is something powerful about mentally stepping outside the urgency of today and borrowing perspective from who you are becoming.
Your future self is not a fantasy. It is a filter.
We often think about the future in terms of goals.
What do I want to achieve?
What do I want to earn?
What role do I want?
What do I want my career or business to look like?
Those questions matter.
But there is another question that may be even more useful:
Who do I need to become to live that life well?
How does that person respond when plans change?
How do they speak to themselves after making a mistake?
What do they no longer tolerate?
What do they protect?
How do they make decisions when nobody is watching?
What do they do when motivation disappears?
Because the bridge between where you are and where you want to be is rarely one enormous decision.
It is identity expressed through hundreds of small ones.
The future is built in very ordinary moments.
This is the part we sometimes miss.
Becoming your future self probably won’t feel dramatic.
It may look like closing the laptop when you said you would.
Sending the email you have rewritten eleven times.
Going for the walk.
Asking the question in the meeting.
Putting your hand up for the opportunity.
Having the uncomfortable conversation.
Not explaining your boundary for the fifth time.
Putting money aside.
Reading ten pages.
Choosing not to react immediately when something triggers you.
None of these actions looks particularly life-changing.
But they are directional.
And direction, repeated often enough, becomes destination.
Ask better questions in the moment.
When we are tired or uncertain, we tend to ask questions like:
What do I feel like doing?
What’s easiest?
What will make this discomfort go away?
What will other people think?
Your future self asks something different:
What choice will I be glad I made?
That doesn’t mean always choosing the harder option.
Your future self may tell you to rest.
To walk away.
To stop pushing.
To delegate.
To ask for help.
To let go of something that no longer fits.
Future-self thinking isn’t about becoming more productive.
It’s about becoming more intentional.
Try this.
Think about one area of your life or work where you currently feel stuck.
Perhaps it is your career.
Your health.
Your confidence.
Your leadership.
Your finances.
A relationship.
A decision you have been avoiding.
Now imagine yourself twelve months from today.
You have moved forward in this area.
Not perfectly. But meaningfully.
Ask that future version of you:
What did I finally stop doing?
What did I start taking more seriously?
What did I stop taking so seriously?
Which conversation changed something?
Which habit made the biggest difference?
What boundary did I need to put in place?
Where did I need to trust myself more?
What small decision did I repeat until it became part of who I was?
And then come back to today.
What is one decision you can make now that moves you towards that person?
Not next month.
Not when you feel ready.
Today.
You become your future self before you arrive there.
We sometimes imagine that once we reach the goal, get the promotion, build the confidence or change our circumstances, we will finally become the person capable of handling it.
But growth often works in the opposite direction.
You practise being that person first.
You make decisions from that identity before it feels completely natural.
You borrow their standards.
Their perspective.
Their courage.
Their boundaries.
And slowly, what once felt unfamiliar becomes part of who you are.
Then one day you realise:
You aren’t trying to become your future self anymore.
You are living as them.
So the next time you are caught between the easy choice and the aligned one, ask yourself:
What would my future self thank me for?
And start there.
Here’s to new choices.
Warm wishes,
Lori