Imagine that you’ve finally moved into the city of your dreams. You’ve just finished another day at a job that you’ve worked hard for. And you decide to cycle down to the nearest cafe to catch up with an old acquaintance. You reminisce about your school days, how you’d fantasise about visiting tranquil locations, capturing beautiful dawn photos, and painting your cosy flat in a cheerful hue, and you can’t believe it’s all come true.
Is it possible that these are scenes from your future? Or does this seem like a to-do list that hasn’t been written down? We all make life objectives for ourselves that we want to achieve. And there are numerous paths to these objectives. Future self-journaling is one of them.
What Is Future Self Journaling?
Simply described, it is the act of writing a letter to one’s future self. Where you write down your goals for the next few months or years. It’s essentially a wish list of your ambitions and desires. It’s a type of journaling in which you scribble down specifics about what you want your life to be like in the future. It entails keeping a notebook of all the goals you want to achieve and the changes you wish to make as time passes.
You may wonder why you should engage in this form of journaling. To begin with, it is a powerful tool for processing feelings about your objectives and dreams. It’s also a great method to keep your mind sharp. Plus, there’s more. Researchers discovered that those who feel connected to their future selves or are in sync with their future selves are better able to face the future and stay healthy than those who do not.
Why Should You Try This Mindful Method?
Essentially, future self journaling is the habit of writing out a bright future for yourself. You consciously carve out your future here. Our minds and bodies can’t detect the difference between a daydream and reality when we visualise the goals we have for ourselves, according to studies. Visualisation helps you teach your brain to build new neural patterns that correspond with that version of you, which makes future self journaling a valuable tool. When you write down your goals, they become encoded in your mind, affecting how you make judgments.
Some Benefits of Writing a Letter to Your Future Self…
Journaling is an excellent way to practise mindfulness in general. According to psychologists, it aids in the improvement of mental health and productivity. Aside from that, here are the top 5 advantages of self-journaling in the future:
- You’ll have more self-awareness, which will help you make better decisions and achieve your objectives faster.
- You’ll feel less stressed since you’ll have a strategy in place by writing out what you want to accomplish and how you want to accomplish it.
- You’ll be able to see your ideas and feelings clearly. The reflection will assist you in problem-solving.
- Because you know what you want, you’ll be able to take better care of yourself and make better judgments.
Here Are Some Tips To Get You Started
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to future self-journaling. However, having a template isn’t a bad idea. As a result, you may start designing your bright future by following these instructions.
- Begin by making a list of everything you are grateful for right now.
- Next, make a list of your objectives — how do you want your life to turn out? What can you expect to see and do? What would your future self be like, and so on.
- Make a list of the habits you wish to alter, as well as how changing them will help you achieve your objectives.
- Now, concentrate on what you have power over and only write about what you can change. Affirmations are welcome here.
- Maintain a daily journal and try to be gentle with your reflections.