3 Ways to Serve Your Future Self Today

The power of living is decisions have a life of their own. It is disappointment and dread. All action has a future. Choices have lifespans. Poor choices feel good in the present but persecute you in the future.

I didn’t connect consequences with actions when I was young. I just did what I wanted. Now that I’m a gray hair I know decisions keep breathing long after you wish they would gasp and die.

Actions are seeds. Consequences are fruit. Every choice impacts the future.

3 ways to serve your future self today:

#1. Morning orientation:

What can you do today that will cause you to pat yourself on the back tonight? Invite the near future into this moment. Choose one thing.

#2. Personal goal setting:

Serve your future self today.

What goal can you set for yourself this month that you will thank yourself for a year from now? The trouble with fruit is delay. You want the juicy fruit but cultivating, planting, watering, and weeding drag on.

Write your near-term goal on paper. Talk it over with a friend. If you suck at keeping goals, make it small enough that you will actually do it. Just commit to put on your gym clothes. Next, commit to drive to the gym.

#3. Consider others:

A leader’s decisions shape other people’s lives. People respond to the way you show up. Your tone of voice. Your demeanor.

The way you treat others impacts the quality of your life. Your actions are the wake of a boat. Consider your wake.

Make a list of three things you respect about everyone on your team. Carry it with you for a few days. Read it before meetings.

What can you do today to brighten the future of others?

How can you serve your future self today?

Still curious:

12 Promises to My Future Self

6 Ways to Honor Your Future Now

From Teen Magazine: A Letter to My Future Self