Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars | 169 ratings
Price: 17.05
Last update: 07-01-2024
About this item
Based on over a decade of research, psychologist Hal Hershfield explores how connecting with our future selves can both improve our lives right now and help us achieve our goals and hopes for the future.
We've all had the desire to travel through time and see what our lives will be like later in life. While we want the best possible future for ourselves, we often fail to make decisions that would truly make that a reality. Why do we choose steak over vegetables at dinner, waving off concerns about high cholesterol? Why do we splurge on luxury cars rather than save for retirement? Why can’t we stick to our exercise programs? Why are so many of us so disconnected from our future selves?
Based on over a decade of groundbreaking research, Your Future Self explains that, in our minds, our future selves often look like strangers. Many of us view the future as incredibly distant, making us more likely to opt for immediate gratification that disregards the health and wellbeing of ourselves in the years to come. People who are able to connect with their future selves, however, are better able to balance living for today and planning for tomorrow. Your Future Self presents the science, describes the mental mistakes we make in thinking about the future, and gives us practical advice for imagining our best future so that we can make that a reality.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Top reviews from the United States
The book is as interesting as it is repetitive.
Hal Hershfield challenges us to consider these and other thought-provoking questions. The book takes one on a temporal journey that offers insights on how to navigate the decisions of the present while engaging our “future self.”
The author guides us through how framing current decisions while contemplating our past and future selves provides a critical perspective for improving our decision making processes. By envisioning ourselves in the future, we tap into a broader perspective on the potential consequences of our choices. This mindset encourages us to make decisions that align with our long-term goals, values, and well-being. Further, visualizing our future self can create a sense of connectedness and accountability to that future version of ourselves.
I found myself seeing potential of the research beyond financial decisions (aprimary use case of the book) to corporate decision processes. A commonly thought of challenge in Corporate decisions is the need for long-term performance versus the need for short-term results. Could the concepts presented by Professor Hershfield offer a pathway into improving those corporate decision makers? I think so….
Pick this book up today and begin your own temporal journey!!!
This feels more like an over-extended New Yorker article than a guide or insights that are fresh and revealing to help you connect with your future self.
The future self of this author wants to tuck this book away and write a new one that is more technical and inclusive of various elements that makes us human... which is not easy, but this ain't it.
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2023