Find Your Future With a Thank You Note From Your Future Self

Thinking from the end...literally

Photo of the author by the author

It is the simple way to discover what you truly want in life and the way you want to be.

It is a foundation for you to find a New Way Forward that is perfect for you and launch yourself to it.

Do it and you will start living up to it.

And it’s easy and fun.

I was stunned at the impact this had on me.

It gave me the answers and change in perspective I needed to move forward in the way that’s right for me to achieve the ultimate life results I desire.

It made things so real and yes, so attainable.

It’s like the power of intention manifesting before it manifests.

What is it?

A thank you note from my future self to my current self.

A note thanking me for all I did now to create the life I am so thankful for at age 95.

This works!!!

By imagining how I would want to be and the life I have had in the intervening years, I identified and connected with the basic needs and desires I wanted and needed.

This helped me discover baseline aspirations and determinations I wanted in my life.

Once I had that, narrowing down the specifics and action steps naturally flowed.

And (this is big), I knew this all came from my true self. I knew this was what I truly want.

It all became so clear.

Want Something Big in Your Life? You Have To Believe It To See It

Since I wrote my first letter, my New Way Forward in life has flowed.

This has made me happy NOW. I see the way forward, I am on it and I am happy about it.

I am already thanking the “me” of two years ago for starting this.

How you can do this

Below is one version of a thank you I wrote from my future self to my current self.

You will see that I addressed the fundamental needs and desires I am grateful for in my final days.

How I’ve lived. What I’ve done and how I did it. What I am proud of, happy about and grateful for.

Unfortunately, no stock tips or sure bets to win the World Cup.

This will help you figure out what it is you really want for the rest of your life.

This will help you get out of the swirl of possibilities in your head (many based on the old thinking that got you in the place you’re in now) to focus on what’s really important to you and what you really want.

From this foundation, your new ideas and ultimate choices will align with your true needs and desires.

What a concept!

I kind of picked 95 years old randomly. Feel free to pick any age but do be aspirational.

Also, you will note that it totally focuses on what I have done. Not others. Because only you and I can control what we do and don’t.

Lastly, keep in mind this is my letter therefore my needs, wants and New Way Forward. You need to fill in the blanks on your own true desires.

The way you want you to be and the way you want your life to have been from today forward.

The Letter from my future self

Dear Paul/me/us,

Thank you. I mean really, THANK YOU!!!

Here I am at age 95, still healthy and active. Still living a purpose-driven and relevant life that I am passionate about.

Thank you for the decisions, efforts, and determinations you made decades ago to not settle and instead transform us and our lives into something amazing.

Thank you for writing this letter to identify the way you wanted to feel about the life we would lead and what we would be grateful for.

Something perfect for us.

I do realize I am closer to the end than the beginning (Duh! See, we kept our sense of humor).

But I don’t feel the end coming. I’m in no rush for it and I don’t fear it even if it comes tomorrow.

Because I am so grateful for what we have done and the way we have lived.

I am more than anything grateful because we “went for it”. We didn’t let fear, uncertainty or laziness stop us from going for it.

I recall when I was your current age my biggest fear was, in my final days, I’d be overwhelmed with regret.

Regret that I didn’t live a life that was right for me.

Regret that I didn’t make an impact.

Regret that I didn’t have the courage to go for it.

Regret that, while you already have a lot to be proud of, you know you still have a lot more to give and a lot more to get out of life.

That fear of regret was huge for us. Constructive fear. It worked.

We were right. There is more from life and from you.

Getting “more” is one of the greatest gifts the new reality of aging has to offer.

More of what we want.

More of what we need.

More of what we deserve.

More of what we can give.

We received that gift because we put in the time and effort to make it so.

It started when we were approaching retirement age. In doing our homework, we discovered there is a whole new life map with decades of healthy and active life ahead of us.

We started following that map and trailblazing it in many ways.

We learned about and from the people ahead of us.

How they were rethinking, reimagining, and reinventing what it is to be older and how they were having some of if not the best years of their life.

We started learning from experts, successful people, and just plain folks who had transformed their lives and then succeeded.

We heeded what they said, and it paid off.

We took the time to examine and be honest with ourselves.

We examined our beliefs which are the root cause of where we are in life at any moment.

We got rid of the outdated and false self-limiting beliefs and replaced them with updated true and better ones.

We took 10,000+ baby steps to improve our health. Every day one little step in what we ate and didn’t eat. Taking brisk trail walks and making the gym a habit that became a fulfilling pleasure.

We took 10,000+ baby steps to a new way forward for our life and discovered our life got better and better and better every step of the way.

What we ate and didn’t eat. Aerobic and strength exercises.

We developed a great morning routine (I still practice it!!!) totally focused on ourselves with journaling, meditation, hydration, and yoga with no “electronics” and the agendas of others.

Upon reflection this was huge, launching our day in this way.

We launched our new endeavor, and it helped finance our longer health and life span.

More than that we found the work to be fulfilling and rewarding (this added to our incredible health).

It gave us our purpose and it’s been our purpose that we remain passionate about (and I’m still doing it!!!).

It also aligned with the life situation we wanted and deserved.

I now realize where you are in life at this time is actually the perfect time to do this (OK, granted, we probably could have done it in our 40s or anytime later, but we just didn’t know any better).

We discovered that when we get “older” we’ve learned enough about life, ourselves, and the world to really make a transformation that is perfect for us.

It’s the time.

We made this new phase of life, “My Turn” and it has been exactly that.

We never stopped learning, exploring, and growing.

We felt the same as we did in our 30s physically, mentally, and emotionally (yes, it’s true, you never lose who you are at your core).

But with decades of experience under our belt, we were able to do more with it all.

I am still driven to improve, learn, innovate, and make a difference.

That drive and connection with the real me have made all the difference for us in the intervening decades. 

We are leaving a legacy that is really meaningful for me right now (trust me, you get around 95 and legacy is important).

What we have done has made an impact on so many lives. Sharing what we learned through creating New Way Forward made an impact starting the first day.

It’s made my/our life better, and I know first-hand the lives of others better.

It’s made life better for the ones we love and we’ve been a shining example for them.

It’s a joyous thing.

In reality, the joy is in the journey. What we experience, what we do, what we learn and how we achieve every day.

Also, our sons, their families, and now our great-grandchildren have imbued upon them this amazing view of what life can be.

I remember that silly quote we came up with, “Those that did, did. Those that didn’t, didn’t.”

Man, oh man is that the truth.

We did it and we lived up to it.

For all of that, I thank you.

Love,

Me/You/Us

See? It is a simple way to discover what you really want in life and the way you want to be.

It’s the foundation for my New Way Forward. It can be that for you too.

Do it and you’ll thank yourself.