This example letter to my future self puts into practice the many tips and best practices that help you get the most of out the exercise.
Updated: 16 August, 2023This example of a letter to your future self is based on what I wrote this year for Future Chris to read a year from now.
I’m sharing it so you can see how I put into practice the extensive tips and suggestions I’ve covered in other posts. To make the structure clear, I’ve broken it up with headings. They aren’t actually part of the letter.
I’ve also changed some details and replaced chunks with “[blah, blah, blah]” for brevity and privacy.
How’s it going? It’s me, your younger, hopefully less wise, less wealthy, and less actualized self here.
I’m writing you while drinking an americano in Origin Coffee in Cape Town. Kim’s across from me because we just dropped off our rental car from our trip to Plett.
The trip was s-Plett-tacular! Memorable moments were [blah, blah, blah].
Also, the trip was a timely reminder of how awesome it would be to live right on the beach. Let’s make that happen one day.
The driving was also a reminder of how much more of a hassle it is with a baby. Man, I hope Zac’s learned to like his car seat more by the time you read this. But, even if not, I hope it hasn’t slowed you down from going on trips and adventures.
Anyway, I just finished recapping last year and reading the letter I wrote to myself on the Orange River on Dec 30, 2020. You might want to read it, too. I was blown away by how much of what I had written then I had forgotten. For example [blah, blah, blah].
Goes to show how bad our memories and perceptions of our past selves are. These letters help me remember that.
Reading the letter and recapping the year was a wake-up call.
I feel I’ve gotten too complacent with the blog. And as fun as it’s been to make videos and write Consider This, their growth fell below predictions. Way below. Also, [blah, blah, blah].
But the biggest surprise from the letter from my past self?
Many of the things I’d planned to write to you to focus on in 2022, my past self wrote to me to get done in 2021! I’ve been passing the buck rather than building momentum. No bueno.
Let’s change that this coming year.
On the bright side, I think I’ve finally—FINALLY—started to get a grasp of the branding and vision for the blog. My plan now is “go full unconventional” and [blah blah blah].
Outside of “work,” life’s pretty sweet.
Zac’s just started crawling, mimicking us, and even standing. He makes lots of noise and loves to roughhouse. And he often crawls over to me when I come home to play with me! It’s like having a dog at this point… but way cooler because [blah, blah, blah].
As fun as raising Zac is, it’s been a blessing to have Irene come look after him a few days a week, and the odd night, so Kim and I can go on date nights. (Remember our attempt at a date night with Zac at Zest? Disaster. Chaos. Haha.)
My relationship with Kim is going as well as could be expected. Aside from a few debates on food and eczema treatment, we’ve been a cohesive team. And I’m encouraged that she’s going to make huge progress professionally in the year to come because [blah, blah, blah].
Financially, I made [x] last year and my portfolio’s gone from [y] to [z]. Below expectations of [a, b, and c] from last year, but not disastrous. The problem is, expenses picked up from [x] to [y]. This has me worried. I’m struggling to figure out fun, sustainable, and beneficial-to-others ways to monetize. $15k per month, I feel, would be enough for us to do whatever we want comfortably.
Maybe it’s worth considering a completely different business that’s less fun and spiritually rewarding but more financially lucrative? (So basically anything…) Some ideas are [blah, blah, blah].
Or maybe there’s some way to get involved in all this web3 brouhaha? A creator coin or something? Probably not, though. I feel like it’s a lot of hype pumped up by people who make money from the attention. A lot of hype. All this crypto, NFT, DAO, stuff was one of the top stories in my bubble of the world this year.
Inflation, too, like we predicted.
And, of course, COVID. So many people we know got it in December, but somehow not Kim, Zac, or I. [blah, blah, blah].
Climate change seems to be moving more and more to the center of the general public’s radar. Hard to avoid with crazy weather like the heatwave in Vancouver in June. Remember that? Camping out at the park by the beach all day to avoid overheating at home, then retreating to Kim’s parents’? Wild.
I predict (hope) that pretty soon a lot of the hype (and $$$) directed towards mostly meaningless NFT-esque crap goes toward greener technology. Maybe not in a year, but soon.
Before getting into more predictions, here’s a recap of some of what’s changed between Jan 1 and Dec 31 of this past year:
As you can see, for the first time, I spent a lot of time recapping 2021. It was worth it. You ought to do the same for 2022.
One more big mind shift I made in 2021 came from reading books like Designing Your Life, Dedicated, and Four Thousand Weeks. I’ve come to conclude we ought to commit one way or another and move on with it rather than overthink things or keep our options open.
But I’m still unsure about what to commit to.
These are the big questions I’m thinking a lot about:
What do you think? Or what new questions have jumped to the forefront for you?
Anyway, enough with the stress-inducing tough questions. Time for some fun stuff:
I bet you’ll be in Cape Town again, reading this. You’ll probably be sitting on a patio overlooking the sea because I learned this year just how much that’s worth to us.
Differences between you and me I predict:
Ok. My hand’s getting tired from all this writing. But it’s been fun to let loose my thoughts upon you.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this and got something out of it, like I did reading last year’s letter.
I’ve gotta run to go do a workout with Alex and Darren. It’s a beautiful, scorching hot day. I’m already looking to plunging in the pool after. And then I’m looking forward to returning to work on the blog.
Bigger picture, I’m looking forward to this coming year.
If you still believe like I do that our life’s y-axis is “Growth,” let’s keep making moves (and not thinking too much) that push us upward in that direction.
So here’s to continuing living a life full of adventures and always having more to look forward to.
To recap, here’s the structure from my example:
For more guidance and ideas on future self letter writing, check these out:
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