Your Future Self

Whenever a statement begins with the words, "As a general rule..." someone is usually quick to share examples of people who break that "general rule" – people who are exceptions. So, in just a minute when I begin a paragraph with, "As a general rule..." I want you to know up-front that I understand this is not true for EVERY single person. There are some who counter what I am going to talk about in this post. This post is not for those who are exceptions to the rule, but for the majority of young people out there who do actually fit this description. I was one. And, I believe most teenagers are, regardless of generation or culture.

Having established that, let's begin.

As a general rule, young people have a difficult time connecting what they are doing right now with what it could mean for their future. It is very rare to find a young person (teenager or younger) that has a vision for where they want to be five years from now and have a plan with goals they are meeting as they are becoming that person. For the majority of young people the mindset is, "I can get this now... I can do this now... This is what I want now... This is important to me now..." All of which is done without any consideration about how NOW is going to impact and influence their future.

That is VERY problematic. Not understanding the long-term consequences of today's decisions, habits and behaviors is extremely problematic, and that's one thing. But not even considering it is simply foolish, and that's a whole other thing.

Old people like me just need to relax and let kids have fun while they are young. I get it. I used to think that also. And one of these days (it will come faster than you realize) you will be old as well. When that day comes it is my hope and my prayer that you will not be sharing bits of wisdom with the next generation of young people that are based off your misery and misfortune from the poor decisions you are making right now, but rather based off your happiness and blessing from good decisions you are making right now.

One of the reasons why the HERE & NOW mentality is so common among young people is because we old folks do a poor job of teaching a better way of thinking and decision-making while kids are young. So, I am taking responsibility and ownership of this problem. Young people, this is not a pointing the finger at you. It is a pointing the finger at me and asking myself, "What can I say that might help persuade a handful of young people to step out of the normal, common mold that most teenagers live in and actually begin living with an understanding that they are TODAY creating their future self?"

You really do have an opportunity to create who you become. Let me rephrase that. You ARE creating who you will become. Whether you realize it or not, that is what you are doing today. The exciting part (and scary part) for teenagers is that the options for what you create yourself to become are very wide-ranging during this time of your life.

Two things cause those options to narrow: aging and personal decisions. As you get older your options and choices begin to decrease, as you are getting closer and closer to the "future person" you were creating back when you were younger. Additionally, the more decisions you make causes you to begin narrowing down the kind of person you are becoming, as you develop habits and behaviors that are always molding and shaping who your future self will be.

So, to get down to the bare bones of what I intend this post to be about, it is this. I would like to give young people a tool that will help them to make a direct connection between everything they do now with everything they are going to become in the future. This is a post for young people. Make them read it. Print out a copy and sit down with them and read it aloud to them. Do whatever it takes. One of the hardest things for them to be able to do is to make the connection between TODAY and SOME DAY. This post does it for them.

Young people, trust this. If you read it begrudgingly with eye-rolling, please understand, I get that. I do. Few teenagers think this way. I am just asking you to give it a chance. Even if you don't see it or believe it (or want to see it or believe it), trust it. Blindly trust it if you have to. It's that important. And it will make sense one day, I assure you of that. Even if it makes no sense to you now, I am hoping and praying that you will digest these words and decide to make significant changes in your life to develop positive disciplines and habits. That requires trust.

But how much trust does it take, really, to trust that GOOD is good for you? I mean, really. Consider that for a minute. I am asking you to trust that good things are good for you. That doing good things now will be really good for you later.

Good is really good. It really is good for you. Both now and later. And deep down inside each one of us, I suspect there is a little voice named "conscience" and that voice tells us the same thing.

GOOD really is good for you. And the opposite is also true, bad really is bad for you... both now and later. Though the bad doesn't always manifest itself in the now, it absolutely will in the later. This whole thing is about a simple principle called "cause and effect." The Bible uses the metaphor of "sowing and reaping" to state this principle: "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap." (Galatians 6:7)

Think of it like this. CAUSE and EFFECT are a relationship. They are directly connected, as close as they can possibly be. You look at one, you see the other. Two peas in a pod, cause and effect. The cause-effect relationship is directly related in the sense that one event (the cause) makes another event happen (the effect).

If there is one phrase that I would love to see every teenager build the discipline to ask himself or herself before every choice and decision they make, it is this: "If I do this, it will create that." But then replace the word "this" with whatever the NOW choice is they are facing. Even still, the toughest part of this drill is pausing for a moment to consider what to replace the word "that" with. But, I believe deep down most of us truly know what the effects of our decisions will likely be. The issue is caring enough about your future self to create the discipline to make the right choices NOW.

Make no mistake, you are creating your future self (effect) with every little decision you make right now (cause). Do you believe it? I'll be honest, it doesn't matter whether you believe it or not. It's true. Trust it!

I'll end this post with some practical, straight-forward examples of what I have been talking about. This is how you can defy the odds as a young person and begin making the connection now. Just pause and consider every little thing like this, and then you have a simple choice to make.

GOOD or BAD?

When you make that choice, you own it. Whether it's good or bad. You chose it. You must own it. You chose both the cause and the effect. You chose either good or bad, it's that simple. Below are just a few very practical, and very real, examples. Some are GOOD – positive causes with positive effects on your future self. Some are BAD – negative causes with negative effects on your future self.

If I study and read (CAUSE) then I will learn and gain understanding (EFFECT).

If I work hard and always do my best (CAUSE) then I will become the best person I can be (EFFECT).

If I am lazy and do things with less than my best effort (CAUSE) then I will become less than I could have been (EFFECT).

If I exercise and train hard (CAUSE) then I will have a strong body (EFFECT).

If I eat healthier foods and drink water (CAUSE) then I will have a healthier body (EFFECT).

If I eat what's easy: processed, fast food and drink sugary drinks because they taste good (CAUSE) then I will have a sluggish and unhealthy body (EFFECT). Note that this effect will be true regardless of how hard you train and how much you exercise. Nutrition always cancels out exercise because it is the fuel that your body needs in order to be able to train hard. Would you put anything but proper fuel inside the tank of a Lexus? If you do, you will be sorry. Same principle is true for your own body.

If I am kind to others (CAUSE) then I will have better relationships (EFFECT) which results in more opportunities (ripple EFFECT).

If I am selfish and treat others with disrespect (CAUSE) then I will likely be lonely and not respected (EFFECT).

If I make it a priority to consider the consequences of my every choice and decision (CAUSE) then I will train myself to make better decisions (EFFECT) and when I make better decisions (CAUSE) I create a better future self (EFFECT).

Starting to get the idea? You can do this yourself. In fact, that is the last thing I want to say on this. Young people, I believe you can stop yourself from making the BAD choice. I believe you can develop discipline for yourself, regardless of your age. I believe you can defy the odds of just doing what most other young people are doing – living impulsively, not considering what every choice they are making is creating for their future self. You don't have to give in to impulse just because "that's what young people are supposed to do" and "you are only young once!" What a crock of crap. You're better than that.

Believe it. Create it.