I’m sure you are familiar with the concept of your tomorrow self.
I use this little trick when I really need to take care of something I’d rather
avoid or do something I don’t want to do.
Reminding myself that tomorrow Phyllis will be really happy
it’s done, is a good way to stop procrastinating and get it done. It’s crazy
how I can dread something that ends up not really taking that long.
Lots of wasted mental energy there!
Recently I was looking through some old journals and planners
where I keep notes on clients, things I need to do and general reflections of
what’s going on at the time. I flipped through a few and there were notes on
things that at the time felt really hard, or were causing me lots of anxiety –
and looking back with the gift of reflection I can see that things generally worked
out.
That’s when the lightbulb moment hit me – What am I obsessing
about now that will not be that big a deal to future Phyllis? Maybe not
tomorrow me, but me in a couple years or so. Can I see how I might be allowing
something to take up more mental anxiety than is necessary?