Remember, you need to lay the proper groundwork for your future self. Our final day in London was a whirlwind. We woke up late so we had to rush and make up ground for lost time. Our experiences with a sketchy hostel, fantastic Indian food, and the famous British museum were all fun, but now it was time to hit the main tourist spots.
Emilio brought us on a tour over to a view of the London Tower, Parliament, and Big Ben. We also stopped for a bit near the Southbank Skatepark. It was a hectic journey that started a day and a half ago. Now it was about to end in less than 24 hours. This would be our last Saturday night out in England, and we had 7am early morning flights to catch the following morning. My friends asked me how we would expect ourselves to go out and make our flight. It was a power move. I laughed it off and told them “that’s future Jordan’s problem…”
My friend Emilio laughed along and said something along the lines of “it’s funny how we can imagine as if our future is already determined.” This is far from the truth. It was a silly joke, but it opens up a lesson for personal development. Time isn’t already decided, and the actions that we do now build up the foundation for our future self.
This was a comment for personal development: are the actions that you’re doing currently in your lifestyle something your future self is proud of or shuttering in disgust?
- If you imagine talking to your past self what would they be saying to you right now?
- When you look back at old photos do you find yourself thinking of happy moments?
- Do you think of moments where you fought through adversity to become successful?
- Do past photos, gifts, and journal entries remind you of defeat or victory?
Think back to a moment where you were glad you completed something out of the way. I’ll usually tell myself: “wow…past Jordan was hero, or past Jordan was a bro…” when I find out that I got all of my applications, homework, and blog rough drafts completed earlier. I’m sure you’ve had this feeling too.
Take a few moments to reflect and write out some outlines for the habits you do now. You need to mention the goals you have set for the next few months, as well as the people that you surround yourself with.
I’ll use myself as an example. I’m happy right now I made the decision to study abroad and travel at a young age. I’m thankful for the strong team and family ties I have back in New York and California. I’ve also improved my exercise and study routines over the past few years.
These are all positive thoughts, but I have more goals set for the future. I’d like to develop a more business-like approach with my blog and I need to improve my spending habits. At 21, it’s imperative to be disciplined with sources like time and money. I’ve written these personal development goals down to make sure that I hold myself accountable.
I want to be able to look back in the future and know that I crushed those standards.
If I look back on my past self with disgust, it’ll be a smack right in the face. Those were goals I wrote down myself, but didn’t act out.
You don’t want to look back and realize that you screwed yourself over right?
An outstanding way to create the best version of yourself, is to…CHALLENGE YOURSELF. YOU’RE THE ENEMY.
We naturally treat ourselves as our Number 1 critic. Why do we encourage our friends and give them the best advice, but tell ourselves we can’t do something?
When I reflect I write out dialogue between myself and an imaginary past self. It’s an excellent exercise for personal development. I’m able to write up these ideas based off of past reflections; I can judge if I’m on the right track or not. I write out if my 5 year old self is proud of who he became today when I look at photos.
If there are aspects I’m not proud of, I acknowledge it and draft up ways to find a solution. For the goals I accomplish I ask myself why I’m happy with how I turned out. This keeps the positive momentum moving forward.
Go write out your plans right now and take the steps to make it happen.
Since my Freshman year in College I knew I wanted to study abroad so I could get out of the states, learn a new language, and immerse myself in a number of different cultures outside of America. Apart from filling out the application, I made sure I worked during the school year and summer so I wouldn’t be begging for money from my mom.
If your future self spoke to you spoke to you right now, what would he or she say?
- Would they be pissed off because you decided to be hesitant with your goals?
- Would they fight you for procrastinating so much instead of building yourself up?
- Would they curse you out for screwing up and placing yourself in a crappy living situation?
Do you really want to hold back on life and not go all in?
J