Past, Present and & Future You
You can think of yourself as existing in different versions. There is the present version of you who is here in this moment, reading this blog. There are past versions of you who made the decisions that created the life you are currently leading. And there are the future versions of yourself who are yet to be.
The choices you make today can make life easier or more difficult for the future versions of yourself. Just like some of the choices made by past versions of you have made life easier, and some may have made things a bit more challenging.
Giving Gifts to Yourself
It is helpful to view the decisions you make today as gifts for future versions of yourself. Thinking of it this way lets you take one step back and be more objective. Thinking about packing your lunch the night before when you are tired may feel like a drudge. However, if you decide that you are packing your lunch as a gift to tomorrow morning’s version of you so they don’t have to worry about it, it feels very different.
In the present version of yourself, spontaneous decisions are driven by the more primitive parts of your brain. This part of your brain will be seeking immediate reward and will do it at the expense of your future self. Eating food that you have a sudden craving for feels good in the moment, but then your future self may have to deal with the physical discomfort or the frustration of not reaching goals.
With your decisions in the present you can either give your future-self gifts and help smooth this weight loss journey for them or you can defer the work and make it more difficult for that version of you to be successful.
So ask yourself:
1)What could you do today that you will experience as a gift in the future?
2) What gifts has your past self already given you?
3) How can you continue to think in this way when making decisions in the moment?
Scroll down to listen to this week’s podcast for more ideas about how to give yourself gifts in the future.
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