Coaching practices for What Would My Best Self Do
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For What Would My Best Self Do, 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’m standing at a real fork right now and going in circles
- I’ve got this clear, vivid picture of the person I want to become, and I love daydreaming about them
- 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
- Stuck at a hard choice, "can I even do this?" just loops in my head and freezes me
Practices that may help
- 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 - 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 - Build a behavioral bridge to the possible self
Identify one specific behavior your hoped-for self does that you can do today — then do it.
Possible Selves, Made Practical - 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 - Borrow an identity temporarily by asking "what would [person] do?"
Temporarily adopting a role model’s identity in a specific context lowers the friction of acting as they would.
Identity Priming, Made Practical - Advise yourself as you would a friend
Ask what you would tell a friend in exactly your situation — then take your own advice.
Self-Distancing: Thinking Clearly About Your Own Problems - 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 - Practice daily self-transcendence
Each day, do at least one thing whose value is entirely independent of how you felt, performed, or appeared while doing it.
Logotherapy: Dereflection - Reframe passive questions as active questions
Ask "did I do my best to...?" rather than "how was my...?" — the word "try" changes what the question measures.
The Morning Questions - Write about your best possible future self
Spend 15-20 minutes writing in detail about your life as it would look if everything went as well as it realistically could.
Expressive Writing (Pennebaker)
Related concerns
- Acting As If Future Self
Write to your future self or imagine a specific day in your desired future — temporal distance amplifies present bias; vividness reduces it.
Make your future self vivid to reduce psychological distance
- Compare Yourself To Your Past Self
Compare your current self to your past self, not to others — the only comparison that measures actual progress.
Switch to temporal self-comparison
- Connect To Future Self
Writing regularly to a named future self builds the relationship and makes future wellbeing feel personal.
Journal to your future self weekly
- Fear Of Future Self
Ask your 70-year-old self to write back to you now — with gratitude or regret.
Write a letter from your future self to your present self
- Future Person Thinking
Ask your 70-year-old self to write back to you now — with gratitude or regret.
- Future Perspective Self Awareness
Ask your 70-year-old self to write back to you now — with gratitude or regret.
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.