Dear Me in 5 years
Life isn’t easy for anyone but how we live our lives and view the world around us is completely our choice. A part of living the life is constantly working on making a better version of ourselves.
Sometimes, life gets too busy to remember that we should take time to ensure that we are helping ourselves evolve into the people we want to be, to keep us on the planned track. There are various things to do to help get us where we want to be and help our future selves realize our potential in life.
Hopefully some day I will stumble upon this article and read these reminders of how to continue living my dream. I encourage you, my readers, to use this list and to create your own as a continuous reminder to follow your goals.
How To Write To Your Future Self
This seems very simple. I mean how hard can it be to write a few lines for your future self. While the writing part isn’t hard, the process behind it can be.
It is essential to ensure that what you are writing to your future self reflects important reminders or tips that you have forgotten down the road.
The best to do it is by assessing your present life and the good and the bad about it, the struggle you went through with and the ones you are going through. This may seem nothing important but it will reflect to you later that you never gave up and will help in keeping you motivated.
There is no best place to write that message. It can be your journal, sealed envelopes, online timely emails etc. It should be up to your preferred way of communication and its accessibility.
While the message itself can be as personal or detailed as possible, here are some common topics or tips to write about.
1. Be successful.
You will have too much more going for you in your later years. Life can get rough but there’s a reason you put yourself through all the stress. The mansion, cars, yachts, and name brand shoes aren’t going to buy themselves. Encourage yourself to get your desired success in any situation.
2. Travel as much as physically possible.
Life is too short and there are way too many places to visit in this limited span. Remind yourself that working hard is not the only goal. Travelling will make you proud for what you have earned plus you get to see natural and historic beauties from different parts of the world.
3. Don’t work, do what you love.
Why work a nine to five if you dread getting up and are miserable at the end of the day. I don’t care if along the way you become passionate about trash and want to become a garbage man, if it’s what you love, DO IT.
4. Don’t be afraid to try new things.
How do you know that you don’t like it if you haven’t tried it? Go for it. What’s the worst that could happen?
5. Be Adventurous.
Just because you’re old now doesn’t mean you should stop going on late night adventures or spontaneous trips. I don’t care if you’re tired, you can sleep when you’re dead.
6. Be with someone who respects you.
You are amazing and if the person you love doesn’t see that, then they don’t really love you. Be with someone who adores you for you and appreciates all your craziness. If they don’t cheer you on when you achieve even just the smallest goal, then he’s got to go. See you later. You won’t be missed.
7. It’s OK to be selfish sometimes.
I don’t mean hurting others purposely, I mean making choices that benefit you. Yes, it’s great to make other people happy, but this is also your life and only you know what will truly make you happy, so sometimes just do what you want to do.
8. Spoil yourself, you deserve it.
Go get your nails done or buy yourself few unnecessary items. It makes you and your closet feel happy and what could be wrong with that? Plus, there’s always a good reason to by another pair of shoes.
9. Be yourself no matter what.
You aren’t living your life if you’re not being yourself. You would be living a fake life, of a person that you’re not. Be opinionated and open minded. Be yourself whether it’s at the gas station, a job interview, your in-law’s house or while running your own business. Just be you.
10. Be kind and laugh as much as possible.
There’s not enough hours in the day or days in the year to waste time being angry or irritated with other people. Does the person in front of you in line at the grocery store who is taking forever to check out really affect your life? No. So, smile, and compliment those around you. Make another person’s day better. There is nothing better than seeing someone getting happy when told that they are beautiful.
11. Always be the best you can be.
Stay healthy, always try to do workouts at home/gym, and always try your hardest. Why do something if you’re not going to do it to the fullest? You can do anything you put your mind to and there’s so much I want you to do in life, so you better get started.
Store Your Letter With a Future Open Date
Store your letters in a way that you will not be tempted to read it before its time, but also in a way that they will not be forgotten. If it’s an email, put it in a separate folder and schedule its sending date. Or if it’s a hand written letter, put it into a sealed envelope with the open date boldly marked on it. Then, you can set a reminder on the calendar of the exact date you want to open it (and the location where you hid it!).
