Imagine you’re 80, looking back on the fulfilling, beautiful life you’ve led. Now go do that.
This was advice often given to past DinnerGuest Jane Friedman by her very first boss at the parent company of Writer’s Digest (the publication at which she’s an editor). And it’s a great reminder to live every day to its fullest.
Click here to read “Remove These Phrases From Your Writing Life” in full (recommended even if you don’t fancy yourself a writer!).
In meta-ruminating about the quotation above, I wonder if it’s a wonderful exercise because it brings us closer to our future self. My friend Kerry Fischer Milch wrote her doctoral dissertation in psychology about the future self — if we feel close to that person, we make “better” choices now. An example: we’ll forgo $50 now for $500 in a few years if we feel connected to the person we will become.
So, connect with future you. Live the life she wants to live. And don’t settle for comfortable — go for deep happy. Give a gift to your octogenarian self — give the gift of a fantastic life.
