Would you – or rather – why would you write a letter to your future self?
An Post has an initiative at the moment where they ask people to write a letter to your future self. It’s free postage, so they are not in it for the money. They say they just like to encourage people to write letters again and take a pause in their busy lives.
Sending post and parcels | Personal | An Post
When I heard about this on a radio show, my first reaction was “Why would anyone do this?” and then I thought “What would I actually write to myself about?”. They explained that you might like to describe a moment in time right now, your dreams and goals, what’s going well or not so well at this moment. And when you reread it in a year, it might put it all into a new perspective.
All I could think of was “ What if I described a goal or dream, and it hasn’t come true in a year, would that not be very disappointing?
I have done workshops before on “Goal setting” and learned it’s not always about achieving the goal, but it’s giving yourself direction on where you want to go. And that having a goal gives you focus, and it makes you take action. But that is the starting point. Receiving a letter with your goals or dreams written down to you, is a step further.
So I am wondering:
Could writing a letter to your future self actually “manifest” your goal or your dream?
Let’s say you are contemplating joining a gym, and in your letter, you write down why you are thinking about it, what is holding you back, or why you are having doubts about it. Or you could describe how unfit you feel. Or maybe your GP told you to strengthen your bones with weight-bearing exercises. You are writing all this down, and you KNOW in a year you will be reading it.
How will you feel if you didn’t start going to the gym? Will you feel regret? Will you feel more unfit? Would you wish you had started?
And how will you feel if you did start going to the gym and you could already notice an improvement in your strength and flexibility, and muscle tone? Would that not feel amazing? And you possibly also feel “what was all that worry about that I could make a fool of myself in the class?”
And I am wondering whether you are more likely to take that first step action, simply because you know you will receive that letter? And because you do not want to feel regret in a year from now when the letter arrives.
This shouldn’t be about putting pressure on yourself though. Could you write a very compassionate letter to yourself maybe?
Maybe from a perspective as if a close friend who is in a similar situation as you at the moment would write this letter? Or if you pretended you are writing it to a friend? Or if you could just write something really lovely to yourself, something you’d like to hear.
So instead of writing “You should go to the gym!”, write something like: “I know how much you are struggling to make that first step. Going into a room, where you don’t know anybody and feeling everyone is looking at you and judging you. But you know that they won’t….” Something kind, something you will love to receive.
I think I will write a letter to myself about my current worries about my collie getting older, or maybe wondering why I haven’t got back into making more art, or why I am finding it difficult to get back into running. But in a way, that when I read it in a year, I will understand what was going on in my mind now, rather than “giving out to myself”.
So, I will write this letter to myself. Would you too?
How about if in that letter you write down that you are wondering what it be like to work with a Health Coach or Nutritional Therapist? What if you write down all your worries? For example:Is she going to put me on a restricted diet? (No, by the way, she won’t!). What if I spend all this money, and I don’t achieve my goal? (BTW, there’s no need to worry, a good coach helps you and supports – they don’t tell you what to do). What happens if I don’t take action, could this condition get worse? (There are so many health conditions, that can achieve improvement through nutrition. If you are asking this question, you already KNOW that you need to do something!).
Don’t give out to yourself about your body and level of fitness, just write as if you are talking to a friend with the same worries.
What if simply writing it all down will make you take that very first step? What if knowing you’ll be held accountable for will actually already lead you on the path. It cou manifest your goal, and will pave the way to being where you like to be in a year’s time.
Go on, write this letter to yourself! I’d love to hear if you did and how it felt.
If you have any questions or concerns about working with me as your health coach and Nutritional Therapist, why not book a free call and I will be able to answer all your questions and explain how I work.
