Two Ways to Live as your Future Self Today
How are your preparations for achieving your 2019 goals progressing?
Recently, I asked you to a) consider some of the possible obstacles you might have to overcome in achieving your goal, and b) to pay attention to what is currently going on in the area of your life that you want to improve.
Now, regarding the 2019 goal you want to set, did you find yourself, basking in the benefits? If so, great, you would already have tapped into one of the secrets as to why people achieve their goals. It is important that see your actions as moving “towards benefits ” instead of moving “away” from the current issues. Here is one of the techniques to help you align your goals “towards” that benefits.
1 Living in a dream world
“Living in a Dreamworld”, this is a phrase frequently used to describe children who seem consumed with a particular activity. For example, think about the boy that takes his football with him everywhere and never misses a chance to practice. He frequently daydreams of scoring a winning goal at the world cup one day.
In simple terms, visually seeing yourself ” as if” you had achieved our goals sends a clear message about your intent to your subconscious. If you are a little skeptical about this as an effective technique, for the next week before you fall asleep, clearly visualize yourself living happily when you have achieved your goal. The more specific you can visualize the better. You should literally be able to see and feel the difference. Work on seeing what you look like, what you are doing then that you don’t do now, where you are, what you are wearing, what you are feeling, how the air smells, who you are with etc.
In psychological terms, the “daydreaming” is about aligning your subconscious with the goal you want to achieve. So although, you may be tempted to have more than one goal you want to achieve in 2019, pick the one that is most important. It is easier to focus your subconscious on achieving one goal. The goal should be your visualization of the final image, not the individual specific steps or milestones. For example, see yourself running a race or finishing the marathon in under 2.5 hours could cover a number of typical goals, like weight loss, fitness or even giving up smoking.
There are ways to deepen the effects of this technique, which I will cover in a later post.
2 The future you as your Coach Today
In a nutshell, visualize yourself a year or more in the future having achieved the goal you are working on today. Imagine that he or she is telling you how they overcame the setbacks you are about to face, how they celebrated the highs and enjoyed the benefits. Your next step is to bring this person back from the future to care for you today and help you with your goals. They know what you are going through, they have been there.
Here are two suggestions of how you can bring the “future you ” into your life today. Build on these suggestions to get what works for you.
- After spending a quiet time meditating on the future you, as your future self, write a letter from the “current you” that you can read to give yourself at times when you need encouragement
- Daily, perhaps the last thing at night or first thing in the morning, touch base with your future self to draw encouragement and feel his/her love.
The technique is based on the principle that we often care for our significant others e.g. friends, family and pets better than we care for ourselves. This lets your future self-care for you today.
