Current You vs. Future You

We humans have a fantastic ability to disassociate our current selves from our future selves. Take a recent date night as an example. We're out with a few friends, enjoying dinner and some drinks. We're all having a good time and excited to have kid-free time with other adults. Fast forward a few hours, I ate too much rich food, and I probably didn't need that drink toward the end of our evening together. In those moments, I was focused on my current self while completely disregarding my future (12 hours from now) self. I woke up the next morning feeling pretty blah. Had I been more self-aware, I would have considered what future me would want current me to do.....but I didn't. The problem is that, in due time, future me becomes current me.

That's a more minor and less consequential example of this concept. It's also scary considering how short of a time gap there is between current me and future me in that story.....a measly 12 hours. But yet, even though future me would become current me in less than a day, I still disrespected him.

Now, take that same concept and expand the time gap to 5, 10, or 20+ years. The further out in the future we're looking, the harder it is for us to associate with that person. And when we can't associate with that person, we lose empathy, compassion, and care. They are a stranger to us. It's someone we haven't met yet, nor will we meet for possibly decades. As a result, we don't much care what they think or feel.

Let's replace dinner and drinks with financial decisions. Maybe current you is thinking about taking out a big, fat car loan to acquire that shiny new vehicle you've had your eyes on. Have you considered what future you will think of that? In a few years, that shiny vehicle will be worn, out-of-date, and beat up. At the same time, future you will still be making those ridiculous payments and will have lost out on the opportunity cost of what could have been done with all those monthly payments.

Or maybe it's investing. Let's face it: investing $1,000/month isn't all that fun. I can think of a hundred things I'd rather do with '$1,000 each month. However, what would future me think about current me's decision to spend all that money on myself now? Current me can have a lot of fun with $1,000/month, but future me is relying on current me to step up and think big-picture. After all, someday future me will be current me......and I deserve better than to reap the consequences of my past self's selfishness.

Here's a little trick I often think about. When I'm about to make a decision, financial or otherwise, I ask myself what future me will think of it. If I don't like the answer, I should consider making a different decision.

Treat future you well......they will soon be current you.