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Who doesn’t like making life a bit easier? Well, here are 33 things to do that your future self will thank you for.
These ideas are a mix of practical and personal growth tips.
Take what you like and leave what doesn’t speak to you.
Enjoy!
1. Follow a financial plan
Don’t just spend the money you earn as you go along through life.
Your future self will be eternally grateful if you take the time to work out a financial plan that you can follow effortlessly.
This could be dedicating 10% of your earnings without fault to a savings account.
This could be getting a financial advisor who puts a portion of your money into investments each month.
The exact financial plan you follow doesn’t matter quite as much as the fact that you consciously follow a plan you worked out for yourself.
If you do that, you are already so much more mature and organized than most adults.
Read also: The Richest Man of Babylon Book Review | 11 Lessons + Quotes
2. Always study something
If you are in school or college, you’re already doing that, and you know exactly why this is important for your future self.
But what about after school and college?
Most people stop studying once they don’t have to write tests anymore.
However, our world doesn’t stop evolving, and new information is being released every day.
If you want to advance in any area of your life, you need to gain more knowledge.
So make sure to be a student for life. Set aside an hour or two a day as study time, so your future self is smarter and more skilled all way around.
Read also: 11 Biggest Mistakes Students Make | Tips for Students
3. Meditating
The list of benefits to meditating is long and ranges from lessening stress to gaining profound insights.
Start making meditation a daily habit – even if it is for just 5 minutes – so that your future self will be able to do it as easily as brushing teeth.
Tools like the Muse Headband can make meditation more fun.
4. Journaling
Journaling can help you clear your mind, organize your thoughts, feel less overwhelmed and stressed, gain breakthroughs, and manifest your goals.
Even if you disregard all these benefits, starting a journaling habit will give your future self the chance to look back and remember the thoughts and feelings you once had.
Read also: 27 Journal Prompts To Reinvent Yourself
5. Summarize your day in one-two sentences
Have you ever looked back at the end of the year and wondered where the time has gone? How is it possible for 365 days to pass by so quickly?
Time seems to slip by because we don’t experience enough noteworthy moments that create lasting memories in our minds.
If there is nothing specific we remember, the days slowly but surely blend into each other.
That means the key to feeling like you’ve lived a long and exciting life is accumulating many memories of it.
One great way to slow time down is to summarize every day in one or two sentences. Find something unique about the day and include it in that summary.
Try it for a month and look back to see how much you can remember from the month and how long it feels in retrospect.
6. Start a business
Whether it is a blog, a youtube channel, podcast, or Etsy shop, you should consider spending your time on a side project that could develop into an income-producing business.
Starting a side project like this doesn’t mean you want to become a full-time entrepreneur.
It can stay just a side project that earns you a little bit of money in addition to your income from your job.
At the very least, it is going to create memories and experiences you will never forget.
7. Wear sunscreen
Yes, I get it; applying sunscreen is bothersome. However, there are reasons people do it, and your future self will thank you for it.
Consider taking the time to compare products and choosing the one with the least harmful ingredients.
8. Take care of hormonal imbalances the natural way
Millions of women reach for medications like the birthcontrol pill to solve PMS, acne, and other health issues that stem from hormonal imbalances.
These medications rarely solve the problem. Instead, they hide it for as long as the medication is taken.
These medications in themselves already have many negative if not severe side effects. But if these underlying hormonal balances are not treated, they can increase the risk of severe health problems after menopause.
The book “In the Flo” has convinced me that it is worth taking the time and making an effort to solve these problems naturally and while I am still young.
I know my future self will thank me for it.
9. Write a last will + discuss your funeral
As uncomfortable as the topic of death is to most people, it is important not to disregard it.
Creating a last will and writing down the basics of your prefered funeral arrangement is something that you do primarily for your family and friends to make their life easier in the wake of your passing.
The last thing anyone wants to do while mourning is to obsess over what their loved one would have liked for their funeral. So make sure to give it some thought and either tell them or write it down somewhere for them to find.
If you want to feel a bit more optimistic about your inevitable death, I recommend reading “Life after Life.“
10. Get a drivers license
As someone who has grown up in a village and adores driving, I am always surprised that some people don’t have a driver’s license.
Sure, if you live in a city, you don’t need it.
But do your future self a favor and get a driver’s license.
After all, you never know when you’ll need it. Perhaps you’d like to go on a road trip through Europe one day or help your friends move.
11. Getting a passport
Again as someone who’s had a passport for as long as I can remember, I am always astounded that some people don’t have one.
It makes sense, of course. If you want to travel through Europe as a European, you only need an ID, and a passport costs money.
Still, you never know when the travel bug will bite you, and you’ll want to travel to the other side of the world.
So get yourself a passport and make sure that it is always valid for at least another six months.
12. Learn how to read faster
We are living in an age that is all about information. You will spend a lot of your time reading these information, especially if you commit to being a student for life.
Your future self will thank you if you take the time to learn how to increase your reading speed.
Read also: How I Read One Book A Week – 11 Tips To Read More
13. Get a job during your summer break
You might not need the money right now, but you most likely will a few years down the line once you want to move out or travel.
So think ahead and spend a part of your holidays working. It will also provide you with valuable experience.
14. Reading books with a variety of topics
Most people don’t read books, and those that do read mainly fiction.
There is, of course, nothing wrong with reading fiction, but you are missing out on a world of wonderful books on all kinds of topics.
Dare to take a step outside your comfort zone and try out a few non-fiction books that excite you.
Read also: Reading List For Personal Growth
15. Keeping a dream journal
Your dreams contain gold that you should reap.
Your dreams can provide you with ingenious solutions to the problems and challenges in your life.
They can also provide you with new ideas that could prove incredibly valuable to you.
Many people recommend keeping a dream journal to practice reaping the gold hidden in your dreams.
So try it out yourself!
16. Writing down at least a rough draft of your imaginary plots
I always have at least one fictional storyline going through my head.
Unfortunately, I still haven’t mastered the discipline and patience actually to bring them to paper.
However, I have started to at least write out small scenes or bullet points with my ideas for future reference.
I don’t even write down something that often, but a surprising amount of ideas has already accumulated at this point.
Every time I rediscover old fanfiction ideas, it makes me incredibly happy and glad that I wrote them down in the past.
17. Keeping the original packaging of tech stuff
If you’ve ever sold your old phone or tablet, you know that the original packaging can bring you quite a lot of extra money.
Therefore, I’ve made it a habit to keep them for as long as I use the device.
Of course, you need the storage room to do so. Perhaps consider storing them on top of cupboards or under your bed.
18. Collecting all relevant receipts of the year
I discovered that as daunting as the task of taxes seems, it can actually be done pretty quickly if you’ve prepared yourself.
By collecting and organizing all relevant receipts in one place, you make it infinitely easier for your future self to get the taxes done and over with.
And hey, who doesn’t like to get money back with little effort.
19. Anticipating recurring expenses
Numerous expenses repeat themselves every year. Sure, the exact amount you have to pay may vary, but usually not by a huge amount.
Even if they do, it’s still better to be prepared to pay something instead of being caught by surprise entirely.
So make a list of recurring expenses like insurance, tuition, etc.
20. Set up automatic backups of your digital devices
Nothing is quite as soul-crushing as losing important or sentimental documents when your laptop, phone, or tablet crashes.
Save your future self from this despair by setting up automatic backups on all your devices.
21. Sort and delete the photos you’ve taken
So, I’m not big on taking photos or selfies.
Still, after a while, I end up with many unnecessary photos taking up storage of my phone and cloud.
Your future self, looking for certain pictures, will be eternally grateful if you make their life easier by deleting what’s not important at regular intervals.
Even better, consider creating folders in which you can organize these images by theme.
22. Trying out many different things
Life is about creating many different experiences.
And thanks to the vast internet we nowadays know just how much there is to experience worldwide.
Do your future self a favor and make memories as you grow older by trying out all kinds of different things.
Try out pottery, ice skating, karting, drifting, wall climbing, virtual reality, surfing, hiking, origami, blogging, horseriding, and countless other amazing things.
Life is about living. So live to the fullest!
23. Avoid too loud music
Loud music may seem like a great idea at the time, but the older you get, the more your hearing is going to suffer if you act recklessly.
Yes, there are hearing aids nowadays. But I’m sure you’d like to be able to hear properly all on your own.
24. Taking the time to find healthy skin and hair care products
Most people are looking for quick fixes. They purchase the product that promises to clear their skin right away or that claims to make their hair shiny with one use.
Your future self will thank you for taking the time to find products with healthy incrediences instead of quick fixes.
25. Keep an eye out for limiting beliefs and negative self-talk and deal with it right away
Overcoming limiting beliefs before they fester is much easier than after they’ve become an integral part of your worldview.
So do your future self a favor and always keep an eye out for negative thoughts that pop up.
26. Write motivational notes/Record a motivational speech
Certain situations trigger us time and time again.
Maybe you always procrastinate on schoolwork until the stress mounts up and you stumble into a panic spiral.
Use the regret of that moment to write or record yourself a note in which you remind yourself of why you shouldn’t repeat this behavior.
Be emotional so that your future self can feel these emotions when reading the note or listening to it.
27. Block a bit of time daily for personal development
If you are reading this post, I don’t have to do much to convince you of the powers of self-improvement.
But truly, working consciously on your personal growth is immensely powerful, especially in the long term.
It might take a while to get the stone rolling, but if you stick with it long enough, you will improve yourself at a rate that your past self would never have anticipated.
And personal growth often does go hand in hand, not only with more happiness but also more success.
Read also: 6 Personal Growth Courses I Want To Take
28. Make sure to notice when you are being foolishly stubborn and course correct
There is a fine between heroic persistence and foolish stubbornness.
Many people have the tendency to jump after every shiny object and lack the discipline to finish what they’ve started.
Those people might end their 20s without a degree to show for 10 years of college because they always switched degrees after a few years.
Others (and I suppose this is where I can find myself) are overly committed. If they started something, they are going to finish it no matter what.
Those kinds of people might find themselves in a midlife crisis when they realize that they absolutely hate their job and should have dropped out of college in their third semester.
Yes, it sucks having ‘wasted’ two years of your life going in the wrong direction. But guess what’s worse? Spending decades being unhappy with your decision.
So, course correct today if that will make your future self happier.
Read also: 5 Signs You Should Drop Out Of College + 7 Reasons To Stay Anyway
29. Learn a few easy recipes by heart
This can come in handy if you stay at an Airbnb in your holidays or if you spontaneously decide to cook something easy.
30. Know the language of food and wine
This means you should be able to read a menu at a restaurant without having to research every second word you read.
Much of that knowledge comes with age and experience, but you can speed up the learning process and save yourself awkward situations.
31. Have a power bank and charger in your bag
You never know when you’ll strand somewhere and need your phone that’s running out of battery.
32. Create a reusable packing list of all your fundamentals
You might not travel often, still, most likely, you are packing some basic things every time you do travel.
Having a list to quickly rely on will significantly speed up your packing process and reduce your risk of leaving any of these basics behind when you return home.
33. Learn how to wrap gifts properly
Seriously, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought to myself I ought to learn how to wrap presents prettily so that I don’t have to struggle ever again.
Learn it once, and spare yourself the trouble once and for all.
I hope these ideas will make your future life easier.
I hope you will look back and be glad to have found this list.
If you do, please leave a small ‘thank you’ in the comments. It really does mean the world to me. ^^
Until next time!
Sophie
