December Facebook Challenge: no politics, no religion
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I’ve always been interested in books and articles in the self-help or self-improvement field. I probably define the field a little more broadly than most people might, as I don’t strictly include books about losing weight or relationship problems (frankly, those are boring anyway).
I know a lot of people are critical of these kinds of books as simplistic and ‘pop psychology’ but whatever the subject, they can often remind us of those simple truths that we either forget about or in some way rationalize why we’re ignoring them.
I’ve always been interested in psychology and education. I have taken a few psychology courses and thought of getting into psychology at one point. I’m interested in the kinds of decisions people make and the reasoning or reasons behind them.
As is my morning habit, I like to sip on a coffee and do a little reading via Stumbleupon. This morning I found an interesting article called Seven Weird Habits That Will Change Your Life.
The first idea is the one I found to be most interesting: regularly engage in time travel.
“Regularly engage in time travel. Often the best way to solve a problem is to have a conversation with your future self. How do you do this without bending the space-time continuum? It’s simple, really. Have a seat in your favorite chair and close your eyes. Now imagine walking into a bare room, with plain white walls with a small table and two folding chairs facing across from each other. Sit down in the chair closest to you. Now, in walks your future self 10 years from now. S/he sits across from you and explains that s/he’s there to answer whatever questions you have about the problems you’re facing. Go ahead and begin firing. Ask him/her whatever you want and take advantage of a more experienced version of you.”
What would I ask? I think it would probably revolve around what mistakes am I making now and what am I doing right? What could I change now to improve my life in ten years and be happier (and not just financially)?
That’s it. Pretty simple. I like to reflect on the past and hopefully learn from those mistakes, but also what I’ve done right. It’s frustrating when you make the same mistakes, but that’s life and you can’t change it. I’ll be the first to admit I’ve made mistakes in the past, am making mistakes now, and will continue to make mistakes, but I am learning. By the time I’m done my ride on Earth, I ought to be perfect! (Yeah, right.)
I think the other weird habits in the article are interesting and can all be useful in helping to give us a different and useful perspective on our lives.
What questions would you ask your future self?
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