What if you could do something now to be kind to your future self? By taking actions now, you can bless yourself in the future and make things easier.
The tips below are a starting place for self kindness.
Here’s an example of a situation where I applied this principle.
Years ago we paid a lot of money for an artificial Christmas tree of the “pre-lit” variety with 1200 little white lights. It was great! Until the lights started burning out.
If you’ve ever removed the Christmas lights from a pre-lit fake tree, raise your hand now.
Undoing the tightly-wrapped wires, twisting the clips loose and cutting the plastic zip-ties is a tedious, painstaking job that takes forever. One strand of lights took me more than an hour to remove, and this tree had, of course, 12 strands. Each year, I removed one or two strands before packing the tree up for the season.
After Christmas when the tree was down to its last two burned-out light strands, I was anxious to move it out of the living room and un-anxious to spend two hours on the loathesome task.
Suddenly that little voice of reason in my mind said, “It’s a hassle, but this is a gift you could give yourself next December. Think how happy you’d be to open the box and discover a nice tree with no burned-out lights.”
I sat down for a moment, intrigued by the concept of giving my own self a gift that would make me happy at the end of the year.
I soon began writing down some other ideas. Now I actively look for strategies that will make life easier in the future.
8 Things to Do Now and Be Kind to Your Future Self
1. Save Money
Regularly contribute to an investment or savings account. I’m funding a Roth IRA, for which I pay taxes on the earnings now. However, when I retire the income will be tax-free.
2. Stay on Top of Clutter
If we continue to declutter and get rid of unused items, when we’re older we won’t have to deal with too much stuff. Our adult children will breathe easier, too.
3. Get Regular Exercise
Exercising and weight training will help our bodies stay well and keep functioning. I try to take a good walk each day, spend some time in the sunshine, and eat foods rich in calcium, so my future self enjoys strong bones.
4. Make Time for Inner Growth
I love to begin my day with an hour of quiet and time to read, meditate, and pray. My hope is that as I age, I might grow in wisdom, kindness and understanding.
5. Take Care of Your Teeth
It just takes a few minutes to floss your teeth each day, but it’s a great investment in having a nice smile, healthy gums and strong teeth later in life.
6. Seek Passive Income
Explore sources of passive income, so money is coming in even if you’re not working.
Examples include book royalties, investment dividends, online courses, digital products, etc.
7. Nurture Important Relationships
Treasure and pursue relationships and friendships, so we can enjoy a rich social life throughout the years.
8. Exercise Your Brain
Find ways to stretch your brain by trying and learning new things, and embracing challenging puzzles and problems.
While these are long-term habits, for more immediate gratification you might enjoy 5 ways to make tomorrow better.
Do you have more ideas about this subject? What do you do now that will pay dividends for your future self later? Drop a comment below!
Save For Later
If you use Pinterest to save and share ideas, here’s a handy pin!
Eliza Cross is the creator of Happy Simple Living, where she shares ideas to help busy people simplify cooking, gardening, holidays, home, and money. She is also the award-winning author of 17 cookbooks, including Small Bites and 101 Things To Do With Bacon.
So well said. So true! We never know how our kind acts can affect someone else.
What a great insight, being kind is express every moment in time and it doesn’t matter how old you are…