Your Future Self is Trying to Speak to You, Listen.
One of the best teachers in life & business, is the future, evolved version of ourselves.
There is one very common mistake entrepreneurs get extremely tripped up by. That mistake is forgetting that what got you here, probably won’t get you to where you want to go. You’ve probably done all kinds of things to help you grow, to help you hone your skills, to make more connections, and to build a business from scratch.
You might find yourself thinking, “well, in order to keep going, I’m going to have to continue to do all the things that got me here.” That is not the case. If you want to get to that next level, doing the same thing that got you to this level, is not going to help you.
Instead of looking to your past and using that to shape the decisions that you are making today, look to your future.
I want to note, recognizing our past experiences and the lessons that we've learned from them is wonderful. You do not have to rid yourself of your past, I just don’t want you to live in your past. This email is about how to learn the next round of lessons. How to start to elevate yourself and your mindset.
How do we look to the future and not dwell in the past?
Step One: Ask Yourself The Right Questions.
What type of person do you want to be?
What type of leader do you want to be?
What type of business do you want to have?
Step Two: Understand Your Future Self
Based on your answer to those first three questions, think to yourself:
What decisions did that person I imagine myself as have to make in order to get them to that stage?
What are the hard choices that they've made?
What are the things that they've had to say no to?
What things did they have to double down on in order to get to that place?
What habits and routines does this future me have?
Step Three: Act as the Future You, Not the Past You
What are the behaviors, the mindsets, the habits, and the routines that you have today that are going to lock you up from becoming the person and business owner you want to be?
Based on your answer to this question, it’s time to adjust. Align your habits and mindset to the future version of you. The version of you that you want to be, that you will be.
Let me give you an example from my life where I’ve had to work through this three-step process. I've had some tough blows, particularly when it comes to partnerships. People that, frankly, kind of screwed me over.
It was really hard for me to let go of that bitterness. To release my pettiness towards those people. In spite of all that, once I finally imagined my future self, my future self was not petty and bitter towards those people. Those people didn’t even come up on her mental radar.
I decided to release those hurt and angry feelings. I did things like blocking them on all forms of social media. Every time I started to think about them, I consciously worked to redirect my energy into more fruitful and beneficial matters.
I don't think about those people anymore. I don't consider them. I spend no money, time, energy, thinking about those people and how they did me wrong.
So… what I recommend is as you think through where you are today and where you want to go, recognize, what are the things the elevated version of you would do? What are the adjustments you need to make now so you can start to step into that role of your more evolved, future self?
Once you can start to embody that future you, all of the benefits, joy, and success that come along with that person will start to be realized.