This post originally appeared onThe Simple Dollar.
A Real Look at My Future Self
Right now, Im in my late 30s.
I have a wife and three school-aged children.
Were in pretty good financial shape, but we could be better.
Im a little overweight.
I have a flexible job that I like, but one that probably wont last forever.
What does my future self look like?
I assume Ill still be married, as our marriage seems pretty good.
Ill still have a limited social circle and fairly limited standing in my community.
Furthermore, Ill be 10 years older.
Ill have 10 fewer years of my life left to live.
Ill have 10 fewer years with which to build up my finances and my relationships.
I wont have quite as much energy or vigor as I have right now.
Ideally, Ill still largely have my health, but that isnt a guarantee.
Ideally, Ill still have a good job, but that isnt a guarantee, either.
Ill always be stuck right where I am right now.
I need to socialize and build relationships.
Friends dont fall out of the sky.
That approach is not a good choice in terms of long-term benefit; in fact, its a long-termdisaster.
From a long-term perspective, though, thats not a very good choice.
From a long term perspective, though, thats going to have almost no benefit at all.
Does store brand hand soap work well for you?
Do you actually even notice the difference?
There are lots of little things you could do.
Some will work and some wont.
If you do something in your spare time and youre not fulfilled… what value does it have?
Youll almost never go wrong.
Sometimes we simply slip up and follow that short-term route.
There are a number of strategies that work well for this.
Another great strategy is to journal.
How can you make that best move into a pattern?
How can you do better in terms of your worst mistake so that you dont repeat it?
The act of writing things down on actual paper is a great way to stir thought.
I find that any technique that can help improve your focus is a good thing.
When Im working on a task at my computer, I turn off as many potential distractions as possible.
Define Your Future Self
So, what does your future self look like?
People tend to think that things will turn out well overall.
Taking a realistic look at your future self can be painful, and people generallydontlike to do so.
No one wants to see a future for themselves that isnt bright.
Is your net worth building from year to year?
How much did it grow or shrink last year?
If you forecast that change forward for 10 years, what does that look like?
Dont attempt to make exceptions for something special this year, because most years will have something special.
This pop in of exercise is much more of a reflection on your day to day money choices.
How is your career doing?
Are you actively moving forward on projects?
Are you building skills that will help you get a promotion or a pay increase?
Or are you just holding in place because you might?
Is there any risk of your job being automated in the next 10 years or 20 years?
What are you doing about that?
How are your core relationships doing?
Do you have a core set of friends youre happy with?
If not, what are you doing to find those friends?
If youre not actively doing much, then youre not going to build a social circle for yourself.
Do you have a strong marriage?
What do you do each day to keep it strong?
Do you have children?
How is your relationship with them?
How is your health doing?
Are you gaining weight?
Are you at a healthy weight?
Do you move around enough?
If things are just holding steady in those areas, are you happy with steady?
Is your life in 10 years in a good place if you just hold steady in that area?
Maybe youre unhappy with your health or with your career or with your relationships.
Maybe youre unhappy with a lot of things.
Improving Your Future Self
So, how exactly do you do that?
How do you take this realistic view of your future self and use it to build something better?
Choose to eat a better diet.
Exercise a little more.
You dont have to make radical changes.
Just make some changes that will last.
Thats not a radical change at all.
Stop spending money on the most frivolous elements of your spending.
Find some smart substitutes for your regular expenses.
Look at buying some nonperishable things in bulk.
Every time youre about to spend money, give it a consideration with your eye toward the long term.
Look at what you’re free to improve in terms of your job performance.
Consider whether education might not help you out here and then take on the challenge of getting that education.
What youll find is that, once you start doing this, it doesnt really feel miserable any more.
Not only will that never happen, its not particularly healthy, either.
Sometimes, the short term choice really is the best choice overall.
The idea here is tojust keep your future self in mind.Think about him or her regularly.
I think about my future self several times each day.
I want that future selfs life to begreat, and that motivates me to make better choices in life.
I dont always make the perfect long term choice, but I dont beat myself up about it.
Ill never be perfect at it, but thats not the goal.
Thats a wonderful goal, indeed.
Taking a Hard Look at Your Future Self| The Simple Dollar
Trent Hamm is a personal finance writer atTheSimpleDollar.com.
