Whenever my daughter is about to make an obvious bad choice, she’ll say to me, “It’s OK. That is something Future Me will have to deal with.”  It is amusing when she says it, but there is some truth to her approach.  When we make decisions, we should consider what our future selves would think of those decisions.

So, for example, Future You is not going to thank you for eating that second bowl of ice cream. But Future You is going to thank you for giving up caffeine and taking up tennis.  Future You definitely will not thank you for watching two to three hours of television each night.  However, Future You will thank you for taking that night class that allows you to advance in your job.

It is an interesting exercise to wonder what our future selves would want us to do today. It certainly helps to clarify how we want to spend each day.

Another way of looking at it is this: What would you say to Past You? What advice would you give?  Probably the same advice that Future You would give.  I would have a lot of advice for Past Me.  I first would tell Past Me, “Don’t worry so much.  You will have some bumps in the road, but that is the nature of life.  Just keep working hard and doing the right thing.  It will all turn out just fine.”

I also would tell Past Me to judge people by what they do, and not what they say. It has taken me a long time to realize that what people say doesn’t mean much.  It is what they do that tells me what type of person they are.

I would tell Past Me to be more confident. I would tell her, “You are more amazing than you realize.  Ignore the negative comments of others.  Believe in yourself.  You can do anything that you set your mind to do.”  So often, we don’t achieve all that we should because we listen to the wrong voices.  Sadly, it is the negative comments that stick with us rather than the compliments and words of encouragement.

I suspect Future Me would probably give me some of the same words of advice. And she would probably tell me, “Don’t give up!”  “Keep working hard.  You have wonderful years ahead of you.”

This week, take some time to think about Future You. What are you doing today to pave the way for a big “Thank you!” from Future You?  Think of what you can do now to make Future You grateful.