I just got a message from the past. “Allergy attack 2010” It’s a message from my past self who is living in 2010 suffering painfully from a bad seasonal allergy attack.
Finally, after struggling year after year from seasonal allergies, my past self, one day in 2010 realized he needs to do something about it. He sent a message to me today in the future in 2023.
I hope you never experience seasonal allergies, or any other allergies for that matter, it really sucks. Mine usually gets worse around spring and fall. My eyes and nose start feeling itchy, but I would usually miss the early signs. That is until one day it gets so bad that my eyes would constantly tear up, I can’t stop sneezing, my nose would be so runny and so sensitive that I can’t function for the whole day. That is when I would take allergy pills but it is too late. I am stuck in bed hoping for the symptoms to go away and it’s difficult to even open my eyes or breath through my nose.
So after several years of that pain, I finally recognize that there is a pattern. And figure out that maybe there is something I can do about it.
Here is the mental model of this story.
- Event → Recognize → Knowing → Understanding → Strategizing -> Acting → Change
Starting from the thing that happens, then first noticing or recognizing that—pain usually helps with this step, then realizing that something can be done about it for the better, then coming up with good ideas that would actually work, then remembering to act on it at the right time which is usually in the future when most likely you have forgotten all about this whole thing—and the pain that comes with it. I think being smart, or being wise means you can go through these steps faster. I wasn’t very smart or wise. It took me a long time and a lot of pain for me to go through these steps. I was stuck on the knowing about it but not doing anything about it part for a very long time.
I noticed it’s not easy though, there are hard parts, namely the following challenges.
Tracking something over a long period of time
Knowing and understanding something enough correctly in order to do the next step,
Coming up with good ideas that work
Ability to act on it at the right time, or remembering to act on it at the right time in the future
Each of these things are hard. But the last part, especially remembering the right thing to do at the right time in the future could be very hard.
That is what I call sending a message to the future and I have a few ways now to make sure I get the right message at the right time. Calendar reminders using repeating calendar events for annual or longer time periods. Future dated reminders using reminder apps, email snoozing, daily routine reminders, morning prompts, going to bed prompts, to do lists just to name a few…
I know, these things are pretty common tools. Many people use it every day. Maybe it’s not such a big deal. But at least for me, the way I use it, the way I write the message to myself in these reminders, or the way I think about it makes a big difference in how it actually changes my actions and my thinking. Understanding that I can influence my future self with a properly constructed message delivered just in the right moment is key.
It is an evolving system that is still changing. I want to retire a few of these and stick with the method that works the best. Whatever the method it must be consistent and reliable for it to work. Building a habit of using this system consistently and reliably is the other half of the system that insures that the message is read at the right time by future me.
One thing I am currently working on is contextual, or conditional messages.
Sometimes you want to send a message to a certain situation that is not a fixed time in the future. For instance the reminder app can be triggered when you are at a store, or when you are messaging someone. These are very powerful ways to plan ahead, premeditate, in order to change the future. This one is harder to send the message to the right moment since it can be hard to sense the context and predict, but with the right system and trigger it would be possible and very effective.
Once “Sending a message to the future” starts working, it feels like I can send a message to myself in any time and situation in the future and then it will help me to change something for the better. It almost feels like I am programming myself in the future. In that way, sending a message to the future is a subset of another powerful idea which is Programming my brain.
Right now I am trying to set up a message to send to myself in the future moment of when I start drinking beer. I need the right message that will help me drink less beer. This is a hard one because I know how much my future self loves beer. I also know after a few beers I will easily ignore my messages from the past self. I need to improve the message and trigger for it to work at all.
So what message would you send to your future self? When would you send it to? Or to what situation would you send it to? Is there something you want to change?
Try sending a message to the future. You might be able to change it!