Six months ago, I logged on to Futureme.org to send myself a message. I thought it would be fun, but I also had a purpose behind it. I wanted to have a good way to check up on myself and make sure I was following the goals I had set. I sent myself an email and asked about how well I was fulfilling those goals. I shared some very real concerns with myself. I also reminded myself to get a birthday card for my wife, which is good, because I tend to forget things like that.
The truth is, this is one of the best things I have done for myself. In the whole email, there was only one thing I actually remembered writing. Knowing that this email was coming but not remembering when, I actually found myself pushing a few times to attempt to achieve the goal before I got the email. Unfortunately, I failed to actually achieve it, but not for lack of trying.
There were other goals that were important to me six months ago that I am so glad I accomplished. It felt good to see where I’ve made noticeable improvements in six months. There was one thing that I have been thinking about, but have never done anything about. Realizing I have sat on this goal for six months has been a motivator for me since receiving the email from old me.
Here are five reasons you should send your future self an email.
Set time sensitive goals. As I stated, with one of my goals, there was a sense of purpose to get it done before I received the email from old me. It’s so easy to make goals but not put deadlines on them but we rarely get around to making those goals a reality.
Remind yourself of goals. One of my goals was to do a better job resourcing my ministry team. I forgot that I had included that goal in the email, but was happy that I have made significant strides towards achieving it.
Correct bad habits. I knew full well that in certain areas of my life, I would get lazy. When I read the email from myself, I realized just how bad I had let some areas slip, mostly because I called myself out about it. Nice work old Jared.
For fun. It was fun getting an email from myself. I’ll admit I was a little goofy with some things, which made the letter fun to read. Like, “P.S. Don’t forget to buy your wife a birthday card. You’ll thank me later.”
See how much you’ve grown. As people, we grow and change every time. Hopefully, we are making positive changes, but that isn’t always the case. My email from old me pointed out specific areas where I’ve grown, but also where I haven’t. This may be the biggest reason to send yourself an email.
You can send an email to any date in the future. There are lots of applications with this service, but these are the five areas I feel are most beneficial. You really ought to go write your future self an email today.
Have you ever done something like this? Was it beneficial?
Recent Comments