we all make goals for ourselves – whether they are fitness related, business goals, relational, financial, health-related…almost everyone has some goal they are working towards. i want to tone up, i want to work out 5 days a week, i want a healthier marriage, i want to launch a business. fill in the blank.
i’m in a season of life right now where i am really focusing on healing, and breaking free from past patterns or addictions that i’m learning are no longer serving me. part of my healing journey involves meeting with a therapist and a nutritionist once a week, both of which have been insanely helpful in this season of life for me. part of this healing journey too has also involved meditation for me, and yesterday morning in my meditation i randomly felt prompted to write a letter to myself, from my future self – my future self that has achieved whatever goals i am working towards.
on this naked mind podcast – a podcast about sobriety and breaking free from alcohol addiction – at the end of every episode, annie asks the person who is now free and shared their sobriety story “if you could go back and tell the lauren [insert whatever name here] of 10 years ago who was addicted to alcohol anything…what would you tell her?”
so when i was doing my morning meditation yesterday i had the thought…what would the lauren 10 years from now, who is living the life i am dreaming of now, what would she tell the lauren of, today?
maybe you know you need to learn to slow down, prioritize rest. maybe you have a vision for your life that isn’t necessarily your reality right now but you’re working to get there. what would that FUTURE version of yourself who is living that life…what would she tell you today?
i’ll share a few things that came to mind for me – a few things that future lauren, living the life i have envisioned for myself, what she would tell the lauren of today:
the things you are working towards…health and healing and freedom and wholeness…they are so worth the fight. they are worth every step and courageous decision you are making today. keep going. you’re doing an amazing job.
sometimes when we have goals in mind, it can be easy to just get our heads stuck in the sand or to have tunnel vision on one tiny thing in front of us, which can be beneficial. but it can also be SO life giving to truly vision the life you want to create for yourself and envision…how does that version of myself feel? what does that version of myself, what does her life look like day to day? how is that different than how i am living today? what decisions can i make today to begin creating this life i truly long for?
a few quotes i really loved from jenna kutcher’s book “how are you, really?” that speak to this future-minded goal mentality:
stepping into the patterns of the life you want is the only way to create it
set aside the patterns of the life you have & focus on the patterns of the life you want. what rhythms would already be a part of your life?
if i wanted this vision to come alive i needed to be an active participant in its creation
so many times we have goals in mind like “i want to work out 5 days a week!” but we don’t really think about “so, the version of myself who would work out 5 days a week…what decisions would she make TODAY? how would she choose to show up TODAY?”. it’s a beautiful thing to work towards goals and have a vision in mind of what you want your life to look like, but remember in order to get there…those decisions and actions start today. right this second.
this future-minded mentality + writing a letter to myself AS my future self has really helped ground me in my goals and given me direction + motivation for the decisions and actions i take TODAY! so i just wanted to share this with you guys in hopes it might help one of you as well!
as a SIDE note! i have an abercrombie code active right now so this outfit i’m sharing with you guys today, you can get everything 20% off with code AFLAUREN ! you can click any product in the collage below to shop. happy weekend friends!
follow along @laurenkaysims
xo Lauren
