Your Future Self + Making Work Play

Hi Reader,

One of the coolest relationships you can be in is the one with your future self.

Over the last 3 months, I've gone all in on the relationship with my future self - Geri in 3 months, Geri in a year, Geri in 10 years - and it's shifted how I show up to life.

You see, I know her deepest desires, her dreams, and the life she wants to live. And I want her to have it all.

Where there are desires not present in my life right now, I know she can have them. And I plan to do what I can to support her in that.

In being in relationship with her, loving her, and wanting the best for her, I choose to invest the overflow of time and energy I have now into creating a kickass "future now" for her.

So, I work out consistently. I eat well (mostly). I invest in my personal growth. I spend time with my work. I plant seeds that will produce fruit for her one day.

And, because a relationship is a two-way street...

She, in turn, wants me to love my life now.

The same way I look back on how I wasn't present for my life in certain periods of over-doing it, she looks back on me and doesn't want me to sacrifice the moments of my life now just to create the vision for her.

She wants me to find joy in the simple things, to relax into the experience of life, to drink in thousands of sunsets, and to memorize the moments I have with those I love.

The reciprocity of care here is transformative. She wants the best for me now and I want the best for her in her future now.

Thinking about my future self as a relationship I'm nurturing helps me access more balance and intention in being here now and doing for my future now.

Check out the real-life Now Experiment below to read how I cared for both my current self and my future self when faced with a challenge.

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​[Podcast] Effectiveness of Meditation with Dr. Huberman - Meditation is a powerful portal to relaxed presence. I'll be sharing much more about meditation, but for now, here's a science-based exploration of the power of this practice.

​[Journal Practice] Future Self Journaling - One of the first things I did years ago when I decided I no longer wanted to be exhausted, overwhelmed, and annoyed all the time was this morning journal practice created by The Holistic Psychologist. Enjoy.

​[Product] The Only Journal I'll Use - Putting pen to paper is an excellent presence practice. I'm super picky about the journal I use and will only buy this one. I love that it's highly customizable (my pick: softcover, B6+ paperback, plain paper, fun color).

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This series provides real-life explorations in being more present, balancing your doing-being, and taking back your time, energy and audacity.

What’s Present?

I woke up one day this week feeling resistant to doing the work I'd intended. I checked in with myself and I had plenty of time, energy and capability, but was feeling rebellious and distracted.

Choice

I chose to keep the intentions I set for myself because they’re aligned to what I want for my future self.

Question / Hypothesis

How can I make my work fun for me now?

Experiment 1: Welcome the Resistance

Instead of viewing this resistance as a problem, I chose to write about it and alchemize it into a part of my work - an intention to create content.

Because I got curious about the resistance, instead of just trying to push it away, it actually led me to this Now Experiment series format.

Now I’m inspired and playing with sharing more of these real-life now experiments as a part of my work.

Experiment 2: Explore Easier, More Fun Ways

One of my intentions is to connect with podcast hosts about being a guest on their show.

When I asked myself how to make this fun, I decided the route of doing a bunch of research and googling sounded horrible, but crowdsourcing podcasts from my community felt easeful. So that's what I did instead, and it worked great!

Experiment 3: Make It Play

I hold the intention to share this newsletter with more people.

I tried reframing this goal as something I’m creating playfully. I took it through a visualization exercise and saw myself in a sandbox building a castle. A funny thing about this visualization, is that other people were in the sandbox with me.

And just like that, I went from doing it all alone to reaching out to other newsletter creators to collaborate and support one another in our shared goals.

P.S. If you know anyone who might enjoy this newsletter, you can send them this link.​

Results

After experimenting in these three areas, the resistance to my work practically melted away, leaving me with unblocked time and energy to invest in my future self.

Did anything in this week's newsletter resonate with you? Feel free to reply and let me know what you think.

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