What do you want to say to your Future Self?

In 2012 I discovered a tool to help my students challenge themselves and then hold themselves accountable for that challenge. The site: FutureMe.

In short, FutureMe allows users to craft and send emails (today) to themselves that will arrive in the future. Type an email to the future, set a date for delivery, and on that date it will pop up in your Inbox. Or as the site described it at that time:

Send your future self some words of inspiration. Or maybe give ’em swift kick in the pants. Or just share some thoughts on where you’ll or what you’ll be up to in a year, three years…more? And then we’ll do some time travel magic and deliver the letter to you. FutureYou, that is. Getting a surprise from the past is actually kind of an amazing thing….

I had used an analog version that my students filled out in class, placed it in a self-addressed envelope, and then I mailed it to them in a  few weeks.  A reminder of what they said they would do.

The beauty of FutureMe (the site) is that it allows the user to pick any date in the future.  I asked my students to set a goal (or multiple goals) for the semester, enter those goals into FutureMe, and then set the date to receive that email to coincide with the last week or so of the semester. It became a reality check. What worked and what did not? Where did they fall short? Where did they succeed beyond their expectations?  What steps did they need to take heading into the next semester?

Image: Laurie Piscitelli

As Seth Godin wrote in a recent post, “… Maybe you’d express some optimism that you could turn into action. And maybe you’d develop some empathy for your past self, who was just doing the best you could.”

What do you want to say to your Future Self? Type it, send it, and it see what your Current Self had to say about your Future Self. Maybe this feedback will help you develop the next challenge to your Future Self.

Video recommendation for the Week:

Can your FutureMe peek through the clouds and rain? Listen to James Fortune and Fiya.

Make it a great week and HTRB has needed.

My latest book can be found in
eBook ($2.99) and paperback ($9.99) format. Click here.

Roxie Looks for Purpose Beyond the Biscuit.

Well, actually, my dog Roxie gets top billing on the author page for this work. Without her, there would be no story.
Click here for more information about the book.

In the meantime, check out her blog.

And you can still order:

• My book, Community as a Safe Place to Land (2019), (print and e-book) is available on Amazon. More information (including seven free podcast episodes that spotlight the seven core values highlighted in the book) at the above link.
• Check out my book Stories about Teaching: No Need to be an Island (2017). One college’s new faculty onboarding program uses the scenarios in this book. Contact me if you and your team are interested in doing the same. The accompanying videos (see the link above) would serve to stimulate community-building conversations at the beginning of a meeting.

My podcasts (all 50 episodes) can be found here.

The Growth and Resilience Network®.

You will find more about what I do at www.stevepiscitelli.com.

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The Growth and Resilience Network®