Future Self

“It’s better to look ahead and prepare, than to look back and regret.”                                – Jackie Joyner-Kersee

I was speaking the other day with a client about the concept of the “future self”. The client has used this technique for some time to good effect. The premise is quite simple- when you are considering the advisability a decision in the moment, consider how your future self will evaluate that decision.

That could be yourself twenty minutes into the future, twenty days into the future, or twenty years into the future. The point is, the importance of taking time to think about the results of that decision sometime in the future.

Often, we feel pressured to make decisions about purchases, relationships, even simple behaviors without thinking of the results on our future self. Regarding a major purchase, I know that I have always felt that a decision would be as good tomorrow as it is today. In the past, car salespeople would sometimes apply pressure to make a decision quickly or the deal might go away. At that point I would say, if it goes away, maybe it wasn’t the deal for me. I always wanted time to make a clearheaded decision about a major purchase.

That is not to say I always made wonderful decisions about buying cars. But at least my future self- the one who lives in that future now- feels generally pretty good about those past decisions.

Prayer: Lord, you have given us discernment to use your resources. Thank you for those opportunities, Amen