A Little Bit of Advice for Your Future Self

Last night, I read Gretchen Rubin's "Habits Manifesto," and one of her statements made me so excited. She says, "We should make sure the things we do to feel better don't make us feel worse."

I read this statement on the tail end of eating an enormous amount of barbecue potato chips because I really thought they would make me feel better after work. Crunchy. Salty. Yummy.

No. No, I felt worse.

All morning, I think about what I'm doing to feel better. Is this going to make me feel better or worse, ultimately? Will I feel better now but worse later? As I keep this statement in my mind, I realize how it not only helps with food choices, it helps with overconsumption of television and social media. Yes, this makes me feel better right now, but I'm going to feel worse later. 

I want to do things that make me feel better and that don't make me feel worse later.

Simple.

On that note, I choose to walk to school in bitter cold weather to invest in my future self. Then, my exercise partner informs me about a recent article she's read on procrastination. She tells me that folks who procrastinate have a very hard time investing in their future selves. They sabotage the future self in favor of what they want to do right now. Folks who do not procrastinate keep their future selves in mind all the time. They think about completing tasks in order to free the future self from that work.

My future self! I want my future self to feel better and not worse!

Not feeling worse and investing in my future self: Good ideas, I think.

When I think about feeling better in ways that don't make me feel worse and the idea of investing in my future self, I feel like I can make better choices today.