Future Guy's Problem

jjonesy23
Sep 19, 2023
3 min read

Updated: Sep 20, 2023

by Jeremiah Jones

Have you noticed that you set goals to save money, get fitter, eat healthier, or eliminate unhealthy habits, yet the desires of your present self will whisper in your ear, “Let future guy worry about that.” We don’t see the immediate results of eating that candy bar, smoking that cigarette, ordering one more drink, or buying those clothes. That’s Future Guy’s problem! We only receive the instant gratification and pleasure that accompanies these choices. In fact, brain imagining shows activation in the same part of the brain as when we think about complete strangers (Stolle, 2017). Jerry Seinfeld perfectly summed up this scientific principle in his joke about the night guy vs. morning guy.

“I never get enough sleep. I stay up late at night, because I’m Night Guy. Night Guy wants to stay up late. ‘What about getting up after five hours sleep?’ Oh, that’s Morning Guy’s problem. That’s not my problem, I’m Night Guy. I stay up as late as I want. So you get up in the morning, the alarm [rings], you’re exhausted, groggy… Oh, I hate that Night Guy! See, Night Guy always screws Morning Guy. There’s nothing Morning Guy can do” (Seinfeld, 1993).

We don’t view our future self as another version of ourselves but as another person altogether. Therefore, Ravenously Hungry Guy leaves the problem with Overweight Guy, Excessive Shopper Guy turns the problem over to Can’t Retire Guy, Addicted to Smoking Guy leaves his problems with Barely Able to Breathe Guy.

So, what is the solution to overcoming this cognitive blind spot? How can we make our future selves more salient to the current versions of ourselves, allowing us to make better health choices now? Hal Hershfield, author of “Your Future Self,” has several research-based tips for creating an emotional connection between these versions of ourselves, which benefit us now and later.

By looking at digitally aged pictures of ourselves, we become more likely to view our current and future versions as the same person.
Write a letter to your future self.
Write a letter from your future self to your current self.
Reframe your thinking about the future. Doing something healthy now is like giving yourself a gift in the future. Many people are generous with their friends and family, so be generous to your future self.
Think about things that will remain consistent between now and your future. This concept can ease the anxiety about unknown future events and increase purpose in our lives.
Visualize the best version of yourself. What are some sacrifices you can make to benefit your future? What are some barriers that prevent your ideal future?
Think about how your personality has changed over the years.

So next time you go to the breakroom to grab an apple fritter, remember that your future self depends on your choices, and try an apple. Hal Hershfield elegantly states, “It’s about figuring out the harmony so that I can live my life now and enjoy the present, but do so in an intentional way so that my future self also has freedom of choice and can live the life that they want to live as well” (Hershfield, 2023).