Awesome Future YOU
Do you ever imagine some “future state” in which you’ve finally…
- Lost that stubborn five pounds
- Achieved a better state of balance
- Found the secret to happiness at work or home
- And cleaned out your closets?
I sure do. My future self…
- Doesn’t work on weekends
- Has plenty of time to spend with friends and family
- Spontaneously takes the afternoon off to go to the beach
- Feels calm most the time
- Is five pounds slimmer
- Has arms that look great in a tank top
- Can do a backbend
- And more!
The other day, I was thinking about this future self and wondering, “When will she get here?” I have been thinking about this future self for a LONG, LONG time! So I had to ask myself, “are these things I really want?”
The answer is YES! These are things I REALLY DO WANT! So instead of fantasizing, I thought carefully about what future Claire does differently, and what advice future Claire would have for me today. (Clearly, she’s got it all figured out!)
Future Claire says, “QUIT MAKING EXCUSES!” She says, “fantasizing does nothing, and setting goals does almost nothing. If you want to become something different, you need to change your HABITS!” (Good advice, if I do say so myself! And echoed by Habit expert James Clear in his book, Atomic Habits.)
It’s HABITS that make the difference.
If I really want to stop working on weekends, have more time with friends and family, feel more calm and spontaneously take the afternoon off to go to the beach, I need to build better habits around prioritizing, planning, delegating, focusing and setting boundaries. I need to do this daily. Not just now and then.
If I really want to drop that five pounds, have tank top arms and do a backbend, I need to build daily habits around getting more cardiovascular exercise, snacking less, doing push-ups and upper-body workouts, stretching and doing yoga, and being patient with incremental progress.
Remember, It’s not the fantasy or even the goal that will deliver results… It’s the habits. The small actions, done repeatedly, add up to accomplishment.
If I work on building these habits today, I may even get to meet that awesome future ME sooner than expected! How about you?
- What does your awesome future self have all figured out?
- What habits does an awesome future YOU have, that you could start incorporating today?
*Thank you to Tobias Tullius for the beautiful photo available from Unsplash