For the last couple of years, I have written a letter to myself using futureme.
I shared my first letter in one my of Substack newsletters last year. I then wrote myself another letter to be delivered to my email on New Years’ Day 2023, here’s what I wrote;
Dear FutureMe, By now, you will have: Got yourself a new job and one you are happy with. Finished the first draft of that book. Be moved house or at least in the process Pitched some writing to publications Be blogging and sending newsletters & still enjoying it. Be as happy as you are today.
It’s interesting to look back on those hopes and dreams and see what I’ve achieved, what I haven’t and what I no longer wish for.
A new job and one you are happy with.
I did get myself a new job, one I do love and I had absolutely no idea when I wrote that last year that that new job would be working as a freelance writer!
Finished the first draft of that book.
I haven’t touched my book, I found my focus needed to be elsewhere over the last few months, but writing a book is something I still think about all the time. Seeing this in my letter has made me realise that perhaps this is something I need to give more time to going forward.
Be moved house or at least in the process.
Moving house has completely come off of my list of priorities. I am quite happy to stay where we are for the foreseeable. Moving house is so expensive and when I wrote that last year, my income was significantly higher.
I also thought that moving house was the key to making me happier, but I now know that is not necessarily true. I need to work on myself internally to make myself happy, nothing external – new house, new shoes, new subscription box – is going to make me truly happy, it would simply be a short-lived distraction.
Pitched some writing to publications
I have done this, perhaps not as much as I could have done, but I think I pitched around 3 or 4 articles and I will continue to do this and continue learning along the way.
Be blogging and sending newsletters & still enjoying it.
I’m thrilled to still be working on my blog and newsletters, it’s what I truly love to do and something that sings to my soul. If I could survive financially on this alone, I would be so very happy.
Be as happy as you are today.
Well, I was obviously pretty happy when I wrote that letter to myself and as I write this, I feel happy. I’ve enjoyed some time off over the festive period and feel relaxed and content.
But, I am now becoming more aware and accepting that my emotions will come in waves, how I feel at this particular moment is not reflective of how I will feel for the rest of the day, month or week.
Life happens and things change, but the difference between 2022 me and 2023 me is that I know and accept that when times aren’t great, it will pass and happiness will return at some point.
Why not write a letter to your future self?
