How Writing To Your Future Self Helps You Right Now

I am a Seth Godin superfan. I tell people to be Purple Cows, to work through The Dip, and to watch out for The Icarus Deception. I buy every book he writes, sign up for just about every workshop he does and read his daily emails without fail. 

So when his topic today was "A letter to your future self" I took it as a sign to double down on my epistolary soapbox. 

Seth points out that a common exercise is to write a letter to our past selves. We are often cruel in the process. We regret our mistakes, question our choices, and "blame our younger selves for the mess we're in". With friends like that, who needs enemies? 

I have a theory: when we ponder the past we whip out the microscope. We tighten up, shut down, and become less permeable. We reduce our field of vision and focus on minutiae in order to make meaning. 

But when we dream about our future we use a space telescope. We expand our field of vision, and see vast potential. We become more open, more creative and more resourceful. We access grace more easily. 

In writing to our future self about our here-and-now self we can be compassionate. As Seth puts it "Maybe you'd express some optimism that you could turn into action. And maybe you'd develop some empathy for your past self, who was just doing the best you could." Write your future self. See what happens and keep me posted.

Image credit: Henry L. Phillips Collection, Bequest of Henry L. Phillips, 1939