Goals & Habits
The Best Possible Self Exercise, Turned Into a Letter
A writing exercise with research behind it, turned into a dated letter: what the 2001 study found, where its limits are, and prompts that keep it concrete.
Blog
Ideas, prompts and practical guides for writing letters to your future self.
New here? Start with how to write a letter to your future self, copy a fill-in template, or read examples for every situation.
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Goals & Habits
A Letter to Yourself for the Day You Finish the Draft
Write to the person who will type the last line of your book: what to put in the letter, what to ask, and how to pick a delivery date you can live with.
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Goals & Habits
Why Everything Takes Longer: The Planning Fallacy Letter
Write your likely-too-hopeful estimates into a dated letter, so the person you become after the deadline can compare them with what really happened.
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Goals & Habits
The Word of the Year Letter: Pick One Word, Read It Next January
Choose one word to steer your year, write a letter that says what it is for and where it will be tested, and have it emailed to you next January.
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Goals & Habits
Fresh Start Dates: Why Any Day Can Feel Like Day One
Research links new weeks, birthdays and other landmarks to people starting goals; here is how to pick your own fresh start date and mark it with a letter.
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Goals & Habits
The If-Then Letter: Plans Your Future Self Can Check
Write three if-then plans into a letter to your future self, see what three studies found about them, and learn where the evidence is modest.
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Goals & Habits
Future Self Journaling: A 30-Day Habit Plan for January
A 30-day plan for one January habit: an if-then line, short daily entries, a check-in in week three, and two letters that bookend the month.
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Goals & Habits
A Letter to Your Future Self About Money and Saving
Turn "I should save more" into one dated step with a letter that pictures the person who will need the money; a writing exercise, not financial advice.
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Goals & Habits
Promises to Yourself: Writing Goals Your Future Self Can Check
Turn your goals into dated promises with a first step, so the letter you write today gives your future self something kind and real to check.