Be Your Future Self Now: The Science of Intentional Transformation

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Every little action you take toward your Future Self enhances your level of commitment and knowing. Every little action toward your Future Self is the evidence of your faith. Every little action toward your Future Self is you more fully being your Future Self now." According to Dr. Hal Hershfield, a UCLA psychologist who has invested 15 years studying the Future Self concept, the first step to farsighted decision-making is being connected to your Future Self. Connection starts with having empathy for your Future Self, just as you’d have empathy for another person. To have empathy, you consider the other person’s perspectives.

Being driven by fear is a lower state of consciousness than being driven by courage and vision. Deep emotional development is required to transition beyond fear as your driver to levels of acceptance, courage, and love as reasons for action." This view of God enables me to look at every person with awe and amazement. Every person has the inherent capacity to become like God. This life is a small step in our evolution. Infinity extends behind us and infinity stretches before us. A person's trajectory is far more powerful and real than their current self." Why don’t successful people and organisations automatically become very successful? One important explanation is due to what I call “the clarity paradox,” which can be summed up in four predictable phases:The quality of connection you have with your own Future Self determines the quality of your life and behaviors now."

Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." -Viktor Frankl A massive threat to your Future Self is simply that you're thinking way too small. Multiply your vision 10-times or 100-times larger. You'll be forced to understand the principles, rules, and strategies of living at a higher level." Spend as much time as possible in the gain, and see every experience - especially the challenging ones - as the experiences that molded you into the person you are today, and gave you the strength and the skills to turn you into who you wish to become in the future.Procrastination is the most common manifestation of Resistance because it's the easiest to rationalize. We don't tell ourselves, 'I'm never going to write my symphony.' Instead, we say, 'I am going to write my symphony; I'm just going to start tomorrow.'" -Steven Pressfield Author and philosopher, Dr. Stephen R. Covey, said, 'Mental creation always precedes physical creation.' Anyone who has created something substantial did so by seeing it in their mind first, then working toward the image. As they took steps forward, their vision clarified, expanded, and evolved." Without question, taking ownership of your time demands commitment and courage. Busy can be a comfort zone despite knowing you're being ineffective. Living busy and trapped in lesser goals allows you to avoid the truth of your Future Self." NOTES FROM THREAT #6: “Never take advice from someone you wouldn’t trade places with.” -Darren Hardy Your schedule reflects your priorities. Your schedule reflects what you're actually committed to. Most schedules are dominated by urgent battles and lesser goals such as meetings and Zoom calls. Rarely does someone's schedule reflect and prioritize their Future Self over their current self."

Your Future Self is a real person. You are creating them in this very moment, and eventually, the future that you're imagining now will become the present - and you will have to live in it. NOTES FROM THREAT #3: “You will be the same person in five years except for the people you meet and the books you read.” -Charlie Jones

A Summary of the Summary

This section looks a little bit different than the Key Ideas sections of other book breakdowns, and that's because Dr. Hardy has helpfully provided a perfect framework for understanding the key ideas in his book. Frankl published an article that explored the frontier between psychotherapy and philosophy, focusing on the importance of meaning and values. These topics became the central subject of his life’s work. NOTES FROM THREAT #4: “When you truly care about another person, you aren't put off by making sacrifices of your time, energy, and resources for them. You'll sacrifice spending money now so your Future Self can have more money later. You'll sacrifice momentary gratifications to invest in education, health, and relationships. Moving from liking to loving your Future Self is the difference between sacrificing for someone and investing. When I truly care about something or someone, I happily invest in that thing or relationship." To combat this threat, you need two things: a will, and a way. You need to possess the will to create meaning in your future (and thus your present), and you need to have faith that you will find a way.

Alright, so now we get into the action creation of your Future Self. Crucial to Step #1 is the idea that you definitely do not need to have everything figured out right now. In fact, hardly anyone does. What's better is to clarify a contextual purpose, a smaller purpose that represents what you're most focused on right now. If nothing matters anyway and you have no hope of improving your circumstances, why do anything? Why put forth any effort whatsoever? Without hope in the possibility of creating a better future, you will lose any motivation to take action now. If nothing matters in the future, why would you think anything matters now?Don't let this happen to you! The athletes of life who keep winning year after year after year are the ones who never stop practicing the fundamentals.