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Write a Letter to Your Future Self

futureme.org

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61–70 of 111 posts

Re: Write a Letter to Your Future Self

#61

Post by HenryBemis »

thierrydamiba wrote: post #58
ericmcer wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I started doing the same thing a few years ago, but on New years day instead of my bday. It is way better to just see where your head was at and what you wanted from the year ahead than to make a list of resolutions/achievements. Really wish I had started at 16 that is invaluable.

I do the same thing periodically, except with voice notes. Whenever I feel like I am in a big moment in my life, or have a new understanding of a concept, I’ll record a note talking to myself. I wonder how different these would be if I wrote them down with pen and paper vs an audio recording.

I journal either on the PC (Scrivener) or on a notebook. I have tried audio but it is difficult to access "that one thing you said about that topic and you want to review it". Unless the messages are 30sec long, it would be annoying to track it.

Scrivener (no affiliation) is a word processing SW for writers. So I am writing the book of my life (chapters, etc.)(imagine OneNote enhanced for writing books).

You can create a 2030-01-01 Chapter (folder) and drop notes into that about changing your investment risk, etc. I guess you could leave a note to your own Calendar, but when I use Scrivener I flow better - I guess it's the UI that makes the difference.

Re: Write a Letter to Your Future Self

#62

Post by genezeta »

freitzkriesler2 wrote: post #13

I remember a comic that did this. Maybe Calvin and Hobbes or Foxtrot. I loved the idea and did it a few times for my parents .

C&H April 22nd, 2015: https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2015/04/22

Also the following day ( https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2015/04/23 )

Re: Write a Letter to Your Future Self

#63

Post by satvikpendem »

ClaraForm wrote: post #5

Starting at 16 years old I wrote a letter every birthday to my 30 year old self with ideas of who I want to become and how I ought to judge my success. I hoped when I turn 30 to open all of them up and realize how much I accomplished would be satisfying. Through the project, I actually discovered two things. First, I estimated a rate of progress that exceeds the real possible magnitude of accomplishment by about two…

You know what they say, people underestimate what they can do in a year and overestimate what they can do in a month. Now switch out "year" and "month" for other respectively shorter timeframes too.

Re: Write a Letter to Your Future Self

#64

Post by jmartrican »

SoullessSilent wrote: post #7

My letter never came. :( I spent ages writing it and describing my feelings and what I planned for my future. I had detailed my improvement plan for 10 years. Randomly I remembered this service and was disappointed since I didn't receive the email.

Maybe this service can just be replaced by a journal. Or email the letter now and put it in folders with names like "do_not_open_till_2040".

Re: Write a Letter to Your Future Self

#67

Post by atonalfreerider »

mckravchyk wrote: post #59

I have done it with the past self (no I don't have a tachyo-something anti-telephone, just a theoretical exercise). You can look at the obvious mistakes you have made. How much more could you accomplish or get out of life if you just applied those few paragraphs of instructions. Then look at it and wonder, in 10 years from now what kind of letter would I write to my present self, what obvious things am I missing now.…

There is research that suggests that the temporal distancing with your past self is a more powerful therapy. This is the only study I could find:

https://iaap-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11...

Re: Write a Letter to Your Future Self

#68

Post by tomcar288 »

doakes wrote: post #57

After a 4-week backpacking trip (via NOLS), you're given the opportunity to write a letter to yourself that they would send to you in the future (can't remember how long, maybe a year). After 4 weeks of living out of a backpack in the Alaskan mountains, your perspective changes. They knew this and wanted you to give yourself a reminder of that perspective after it has faded back to the complexities of normal life. Yo…

i can relate to this. sometimes coming across new philosophies can change your life's priorties and values quite a bit: for instancing learning about taoism.

Re: Write a Letter to Your Future Self

#69

Post by shaism »

dmccarty wrote: post #11

I highly recommend doing this. I also highly recommend not doing it digitally. I recently came across an email I'd sent to myself a decade ago. It was a serendipitous find and could've easily been lost for all time among the 100K emails floating around. But the process of writing it is worth it, and the reading of it some time later can be deeply rewarding.

A physical letter is definitely nice but can be a hassle if you move.
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