High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 417: What Would Your Future Self Want?

Episode Date: March 24, 2021

n this episode, we talk about why it is important to consider what your future self looks like in 5 or 10 years. Research shows that when you see your future self as someone different than you are today (your current self), you make better decisions. Dr. Kamphoff shares 3 specific ways you can get clarity on your future self.  Power Phrase this Week: “I make decisions today with my future self in mind.”    Quote of the Week: “Do something today that your future self will thank you for.” Unknown   

Hi friends, my name is Dr. Sindra Kampoff, a national leader in the field of sport and performance psychology. Every week I'm on the local radio sharing my top tips on exactly how to develop the mindset of the world's best, so you can accomplish all your dreams. Get ready for a jammed packed episode focused on practical tips to help you get after your goals and step out of your comfort zone. Let's go. Checking in with Dr. Sindra Kampoff this morning. Sindra, we're talking about what your future

self would want. Yes. And I'm going to start with a quote, Lisa. This is by someone anonymous and it goes like this. Do something today that your future self will thank you for. Your future self. So what exactly are we talking about today with this? Well, we're talking about your future self will thank you for. Your future self. So what exactly are we talking about today with this? Well, we're talking about your future self and connecting with it. And, you know, I love watching the Academy Awards and like listening to the speeches that the actors and actresses give afterwards. And a few years ago, I remember that Matthew McConaughey won for the Dallas Buyers Club. And he gave this like really inspiring speech. And he shared that a large part of his success was because of his hero, which was actually his future self in 10

years. And this is what he said, Lisa, he said, every day, every week, every month, and every year of my life, my hero is always 10 years away. I'm never going to be my hero. And I'm not going to attain that. And that's just fine with me, because that keeps me with somebody to keep on chasing. Oh, that makes sense. So the topic really is today, the topic really today that your psychology of your future self, and maybe the way you kind of think about it is, you have three selves, your past self, your current self and your future self. And I was watching this TED talk by a guy named Daniel Gilbert, who's a Harvard psychologist. And he described that most people really actually don't think about their future self. They kind of instead imagine their past self.

And most people don't really think about who they could become. But actually, like psychology research tells us that we actually grow a lot over time, and we kind of underestimate the changes that can happen in our future. So, for example, as people are listening, maybe think about your former self, maybe five or 10 years ago and how different you are today. And you are different. You've grown and you really learned a lot of things and your past self is very different than yourself today.

So what's the impact of considering our future self? Well, the impact is that there's a psychologist who did a study. His name is Hal Hirschfield, and he's a psychologist at UCLA. And he described and he kind of found in his study is that it's a good thing to think about your future self as someone different than you are today. And this helps us make better decisions when we think about our future self as different than we are today. So, for example, if you think about your future self and like, okay, again, what you'd like to, you know, be in five or ten years, it helps you make better decisions about saving money, eating better, exercising more, and you end up making better decisions that lead to you being happier in the future when you think about your future self as

someone different than you are today. So thinking about your future self, how do you go about telling us to do this given the research? Yeah, great question. So first I would have everyone listening just think about, okay, what would you like your future self to be in let's say 10 years? Where do you want to be in 10 years? If you can imagine your future self to be in, let's say, 10 years? Where do you want to be in 10 years? You know, if you can imagine your future self in 10 years and even feel it in your body, that makes it more real. And then I think once you have a vision, you could ask yourself, you know, what does your future self actually need? You know, maybe in terms of education or self-development or relationships. And then I'm going to encourage you to take one step and think about

today, like what could you do today to take action on that future self? All right. So do you have a final point for us? Yeah. You know, I love this idea of Matthew McConaughey and what he talked about, you know, allowing yourself, your future self to really be your hero. I think that's a really cool idea. And I think when we do that, it helps us to really be your hero. I think that's a really cool idea. And I think when we do that, it helps us to be more excited about our future, even step into our power and just helps us, you know, continue to learn and grow and ultimately make better decisions with your future self in mind. So Dr. Sundra, how do we summarize today? I would say, you know, today consider what

your future self looks like in, you know, five or ten years. And we tend to underestimate the changes that we'll make in the future. So it's a good idea to kind of think about your future self as someone different than today, your current self, because that's going to help you make better decisions. And finally, I'd say, you know, consider this idea that Matthew McConaughey talked about as considering your hero as your future self. What's the power phrase this week? I make decisions today with my future self in mind. We will continue today with that. Thank you so much.

That's a really good one. Where do people go for more information on what it is that you do? Yeah. So I'm a coach and a speaker and you can find out more about my work over at drcindra.com. Dr. Cinder Kampa, thank you so much for your time today. What would your future self want our topic? Thank you. Thank you, Lisa. Way to go for finishing another episode of the High Performance Mindset. I'm giving you a virtual fist pump. Holy cow, did that go by way too fast for anyone else? If you want more, remember to subscribe and you can head over to Dr. Sindra for show notes

and to join my exclusive community for high performers where you get access to videos about mindset each week. So again, you can head over to Dr. Sindra. That's D-R-C-I-N-D-R-A.com. See you next week.