Are you the same person that you were ten years ago? Five years ago? Yesterday, even? In all likelihood your answer is “no” because as a human living on this planet, it’s damn near impossible to avoid changing in some way, shape or form…
CHANGE IS INEVITABLE
Whether we’re onboard for it or not, change is inevitable. The world changes, the people around us change, our lives change, we change. Even if you’ve dug in your heels & you’re all like, “Nope. Nuh uh. No way. I refuse to change who I am,” that’s still change because ultimately that mindset leads to regression…and yes, even regression is change. You often hear that people don’t change, and that my friend is bullshit. Every new experience (good or bad), every new thing that we see, hear or learn, everything & everyone that we encounter in our daily lives is indeed changing us in some way or another.
If you are thinking to yourself right now that you are absolutely the same person that you’ve always been, think again. Examine it more closely. Sure, maybe the essence of who you are is the same, maybe your core values are the same (although those can change too), but there are so many details that have changed that maybe you haven’t noticed until now.
Do you dress the same as you have for your entire life? Do you eat the same things? Do you enjoy the same things? Do you spend time with the same people that you did when you were say, 20 years old? Are the things that were important to you in your 20’s still priorities for you today? See what I mean? We do change. Change is 100% possible. And here’s the cool thing, once you are aware of that inevitability, you can take charge & steer the change in the direction you want it to go.
WHO IS YOUR FUTURE SELF?
First things first. Before you can begin to live like your future self each day, you have to know who you want your future self to be. Use these questions as a starting point:
- What will your life look like?
- Will you be working or not? If so, what will you be doing?
- How do you spend your free time? What does fun look like to your future self?
- How do you spend your days…what does your daily routine look like?
- How do you treat your physical body…what do you eat & drink? Do you move & exercise?
- What do you wear & how do you dress?
- How do you think?
- How do you feel about yourself & your life each day?
Once you have a clearer picture of exactly who you want your future self to be, now you have to get there. The quickest route to your future self is being her now. In the present. Every single day. Imagine how amazing it will feel to show up for yourself every day as the person you want to be as opposed to the person you are right now. Showing up each day as the next level you isn’t fake or inauthentic, it’s actually the most authentic you can be because it’s true to who you want to grow into.
Start showing up for yourself as if…as if you are already the woman you aspire to be. Doing that on the daily creates a pattern, a pattern creates a habit & a new habit creates new neural pathways in your brain to make it reality. In reality you are breaking the habits of the current you, by building the habits of the future you. I wrote a post on creating new habits that you might find helpful with this.
“Without burning down your current patterns of behavior, you’ll be unable to build the momentum to move forward towards your future self.”
HOW TO LIVE LIKE YOUR FUTURE SELF
Now that you’ve determined who your future self is & how you want your future life to look, it’s time to do the work. It’s time to figure out how to live like your future self. It’s going to be uncomfortable, know that going in…but aren’t you worth it? And as my girl Glennon says, “We can do hard things.”
WRITE IT DOWN
Even for those of you who are journal/planner averse, it is super helpful to write it all down to help with focus & to hold yourself accountable. Think of it as your own personal roadmap to your awesome future self. Describe in detail the woman you want to be & the life you are going to be living. Write down the habits & behaviors that you want to focus on changing. Schedule future you activities in your planner. Write about how it feels once you begin living your day to day as future you.
SAY, DO & BE AS YOUR FUTURE SELF
Be constantly mindful & aware of your behaviors, your responses & your speech. Base every choice you make on whether or not your future self would do that thing. Live like your future self all of the time. What would she be reading? What types of social media would she be consuming & what accounts would she follow or unfollow? Would future you pound down a bag of chips at midnight? Would future you follow a morning routine that makes her happy? Would she respond in anger over something irrelevant? Would future you zone out on the couch or get shit done?
If it’s easier to do for you, choose one or two habits to focus on. Once you’ve changed those patterns & made them automatic move on to two more & so on. The point is, ALWAYS BE MINDFUL OF WHAT FUTURE YOU WOULD DO in any given situation & do that thing.
DRESS LIKE YOUR FUTURE SELF
I know I’ve said this probably a zillion times, but what you wear matters. Your clothing has a direct impact on not only how you look, but also on how you feel & how you show up in the world. Put thought into how your future self will dress & what pieces she’ll have in her closet. Start putting together your daily outfits based on what will make future you feel happy, beautiful & badass. Does future you spend an entire day in a coffee stained tee shirt & scruffy slippers? I don’t think so. Dress as your future self.
STAY FOCUSED
Sure, life happens. But do not allow life to derail your dreams. You’re going to have craptastic days that completely throw you off your game & it will be so easy to slide into your old ways of thinking & doing. But don’t get trapped there. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off & start again. Do better next time. Learn from what went wrong. Write it down…think, reflect, feel. Then reset your focus, remind yourself of your reasons why & do what your future self would do because damn it…future you is worth it.
THE LINK UPS
Check out the weekly link ups I participate in for even more good reads & style ideas…
And in case you missed it the first time…
