A guided exercise that gets you clear on exactly who your future self is, how they spend their time, what they've stopped tolerating, and what they're earning, so you can start making those decisions now instead of waiting until you feel ready.
Note: This is built on the future self research of organizational psychologist Dr. Benjamin Hardy.*
You can also copy and paste the prompt below in Claude, ChatGPT, etc.
You already have a future self. You think about them all the time, usually in the form of "someday" or "once things calm down" or "when I have more experience." They're the version of you who feels like themselves again, protects their time, and stopped saying yes to things that drain them.
Here's what the research says about that person… Your brain is driven by prospection, meaning you make every decision today based on where you think you're going. When your vision of the future is vague, your decisions today are vague too. When your vision is detailed, down to the daily rhythms, the relationships, the choices, your brain starts treating that future like a destination it already knows how to reach.
The more detailed the vision, the easier it is to realize. That's the entire premise of this playbook.
But here's where most future self exercises stop short. They have you imagine that person and then send you back to your regular life to keep making your current self's decisions. That's not how this works.
Your future self isn't someone you become later. Your future self is someone whose decisions you start making today, before you feel ready, because, let’s be honest, feeling ready was never coming anyway. Before you get through the actual playbook we invite you to think about your perfect day. It’s your playbook appetizer if you will. Let’s get started, shall we?
Describe your perfect day from the second you wake up until the second you go to bed in just as much detail. Where are you living? What time do you wake up? When do you start work? Do you work? How long? Where are you having your coffee or tea? What’s for breakfast and who is making it? What problems are you solving, who are you with, what are you creating? How much money are you making per day? How are you dressed?
Keep writing about it until it’s exactly as you want it. You can literally see yourself there and there is simply no other realty that exists.
Got it crystal clear? Now take your time and complete the exercises below.
Enjoy!
Before you can make your future self's decisions, you have to know what they're building toward and why, because purpose is the filter every other decision runs through.
Close your eyes and imagine living in a way that lights you up inside. Not in a vague "be happier" way, challenge yourself to picture every single detail.