Coaching practices for Past Self vs Present Self

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Past Self vs Present Self, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• I keep making the choice that the version of me a year from now would groan at
• I can almost hear my older self looking back at the choices I’m making right now, and I’m scared it’s with regret
• The version of me who’d benefit from saving feels like a stranger I owe nothing to
• I’ve tried that "imagine your future self" thing but the older me stays a vague stranger I feel nothing for, so it changes nothing
• When I try to picture myself old it’s just a blank, fuzzy outline

Practices that may help

1. Consult your future self
   Imagine your wiser future self looking back on this moment, and ask what they’d want you to do.
   Self-Distancing: Thinking Clearly About Your Own Problems
2. Write a letter from your future self to your present self
   Ask your 70-year-old self to write back to you now — with gratitude or regret.
   Future Self Continuity, Made Practical
3. Make the future self vivid and concrete
   A vivid, detailed image of your future self competes more effectively with the present temptation.
   The Marshmallow Test and Your Money
4. Write a letter from your future self
   Have your 80-year-old self write back about the decision you’re facing now.
   The Regret-Minimization Framework
5. Vividly visualize your future self in concrete detail
   The more specific and sensory your image of your future self, the less you discount their wellbeing.
   Future Self Continuity, Made Practical
6. Filter decisions through "what would future me thank me for?"
   Before significant decisions, ask whether your future self will be grateful or resentful.
   Future Self Continuity, Made Practical
7. Make your future self vivid to reduce psychological distance
   Write to your future self or imagine a specific day in your desired future — temporal distance amplifies present bias; vividness reduces it.
   Hyperbolic Discounting — Why Future You Always Gets the Short End
8. Build a vivid, concrete future orientation
   Make the future feel real and close by describing it in sensory, specific detail.
   Time Perspective Therapy
9. Update and revise possible selves over time
   Revisit and rewrite your possible selves at least twice a year — the self you need to become changes as you grow.
   Possible Selves, Made Practical
10. Future Self Continuity, Made Practical
    Hal Hershfield’s research shows that most people experience their future self as a stranger — neurologically similar to perceiving another person rather than themselves. This psychological distance explains impulsive decisions that trade future wellbeing for present comfort. Practices that increase felt connection to the future self reduce this discounting and improve decisions ranging from saving to health behavior.

Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.