Let’s face it: Your future self is a goofball.
Well, at least mine is.
Have you looked at your Netflix queue lately? You know, that list with 417 “intelligent” and “critically acclaimed” films to watch that linger there month after month, because you’re busy re-watching all 10 seasons of “Friends”?
That’s because when you added “The Crown”—which all your friends say is brilliant—you thought Future Self would be different than Present Self. You know… more sophisticated. The kind of self you want to be rather than the kind of self you are right now. The cabernet and brie self, not the Bud and cheetos self.
Most of us toodle through life like Forest Gump, blissfully unaware that we’re making the same mistake over and over again. That’s because the future never actually arrives: it’s always just “now”. What’s up with that?
Here’s a cool trick: One of the best and easiest hacks for self-control is something called “pre-commitment”.
Let’s say you want to start eating healthier when you eat out.
Old Way: Wait until you’re hungry and go out to Buster’s Pork Emporium for All You Can Eat night.
New Way: Make a reservation somewhere with healthier options.
Old Way: Wait until you arrive at the restaurant, and then choose “whatever looks yummiest.”
New Way: Look at the menu on-line before you go, and decide to get the healthiest entree.
Old Way: Change your mind when you get to the restaurant, and order the Pasta Napoletana instead of the salad.
New Way: Ask your date to whap you upside the head with a flounder if you don’t order the salad.
Pre-commitment is about removing options from your future self, or making those options less convenient. One author I like was trying to cut back on microwave popcorn, so they stored it in the attic. It sounds silly, but even if it would only take you three minutes to go climb up into the attic and get a package of popcorn, that’s enough of a hurdle to change it from an impulse to a decision.
Pre-commitment is useful in all sorts of ways, but you may find you need to outsmart future self sometimes.
And that’s OK. Future self is a dummy.
This has been another 2 minute blog. I’ve been writing these every Tuesday and Friday, except for lately. I wrote this one on a Sunday. (I was afraid that if I didn’t get it done by Tuesday, I’d be smacked with a flounder.) Thanks for reading!
