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New Year, Future Me
Become the Person Your Goals Need You to Be
Congratulations, you made it to 2026! Like many, you’re probably getting the itch to set some new or updated goals but you’re wanting to make sure you aren’t one of those that give up on your resolutions 2 weeks into the year.
One thing many people miss when setting these resolutions is getting connected to the future version of themselves.
The one who has accomplished the goal. Whether that’s a new deadlift PR, completing your first race, reading X number of books for the year, cooking from home more, you name it.
Research shows that people with enhanced present-future self-continuity report better subjective health & exercise more in the days that followed a “20-year writing task” (Rutchick, 2018).
Essentially, the more connected to your “future self”, the more likely you are to make decisions that serve you long-term.
We often think a lot about how we’re going to quit bad habits or just how eager we are to simply accomplish the goal, without spending time thinking about who we need to become to make the goal happen.
Research shows that when the desire to accomplish something (e.g. lose weight) is tied to identity (i.e. I am a healthy person), we will be more likely to result in repeated action (e.g. healthier decisions).
For example, how does that version of you think differently?
What does that version of you do differently?
Maybe the updated version goes to the gym even when she doesn’t want to.
Maybe the updated version of you retreats to the cozy reading spot instead of the pantry.
Maybe the updated version of you bundles up and gets outside even when it’s cold outside.
Getting Clear on Your Future Self
Below are some prompts to help you brainstorm about your future self. What they do, how they think, how they dress, etc.
- What time does your future self get up in the morning? What is the first thing you do? What do those first 5 minutes after waking look like?
- What is her typical breakfast at home? What about if you go out for brunch?
- Do you ever sleep in? When? Why? What’s that like?
- When you wake up in the morning feeling unmotivated, tired or sluggish, what do you do about that? What’s the slow day protocol?
- What makes you feel your healthiest? How do you get those things done?
- What do you do on an average Tuesday afternoon? What about an average Friday afternoon?
- What are your relationships and friendships like?
- What do you believe about yourself? What do you believe about the world?
Keep the Timeframe Realistic
When you’re dreaming up your future self, I want you to keep just the next 3–6 months in mind because true behavior change & maintenance of the new behavior takes about 6 months. (Prochaska & co.)
Really go for it! Think of the smallest details, the big training wins, the mindset shifts, and everything in between.
Celebrate the heck out of your daily and weekly wins, because “what we frequently do, we adopt as ‘who we are’” (Wood & Runger, 2016), and each win is a step closer to becoming that version of yourself you just dreamt of.
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