Be Your Future Self Now: The Science of Intentional Transformation

by Benjamin P. Hardy

Godin said: Sometimes, shipping feels like a compromise. You set out to make a difference, to create art that matters and to do your best work. Then a deadline arrives and you have to cut the work short. Is shipping that important? I think it is. I think the discipline of shipping is essential in the long-term path of becoming indispensable.

Adam Grant in Think Again: To unlock the joy of being wrong, we need to detach. I’ve learned that two kinds of detachment are especially useful: detaching your present from your past and detaching your opinions from your identity . . . My past self was Mr. Facts—I was too fixated on knowing. Now I’m more interested in finding out what I don’t know. As Bridgewater founder, Ray Dalio told me, “If you don’t look back at yourself and think, ‘Wow, how stupid I was a year ago,’ then you must not have learned much in the past year.”36

Upgrade your past self but no need to be harsh to them. They did their best with their limited scope.

Prolific is better than perfect. The more you make completion a way of life, the more you become your Future Self. Eighty percent to your current self is beyond anything your former self could ever do. Eighty percent to your Future Self will be beyond anything your current self could do. Confidence comes from completion.

Prioritize being a prolific publisher over any ideas of perfection.

In the next 24 hours, give yourself some space and make a time capsule of some form for your Future Self. Like Jimmy, you can film a video and set the recording to publish on a future date. You can write yourself a letter and store the message in a jar on the shelf like Lauren and I did. The mode matters far less than that you do it.

Know that despite your best predictions, your Future Self will likely be far different than you anticipate. Life will teach you more than you expect. Your Future Self is wiser than your present self can imagine.

Being is the first step of doing. Do what your Future Self will do. Know that what you want is already yours. Commit 100 percent to your desired Future Self. Remove lesser goals. Turn every experience along the way into a gain. Cheers to your Future Self.

Daily reminders