I was taking a shower the other day, reminiscing about years gone by.
There were thoughts dancing in my head about a much younger me, who was just starting his journey to financial independence. As I was standing under the warm water, I smiled as I recalled this driven, methodical, and intense guy who wouldn’t let anything stand in his way.
I’m still that same guy in a lot of ways, although I’m able to relax a bit more these days.
But I was thinking back on what I felt like five or so years ago.
And I asked myself an honest question, as if I were interviewing myself.
Was there ever a doubt in my mind that it was all going to work out?
My answer to myself was… no.
I Was Already Financially Independent
I never, ever doubted that I was going to be financially independent at a relatively young age. I knew, once I started saving and investing, that I was going to eventually be wealthy. I knew that I had it within myself to make my dreams come true. If I could just stay out of my own way, there was nothing else that could stop me.
In my mind, I was already financially independent.
For perspective, I wrote an article back in late 2014 about how I was already financially independent.
The concept behind the article was that I could actually see – through the power of belief and visualization – a future me who was already financially independent, living the life of his dreams. I could see this version of myself as clear as I see life as it exists in front of me, right now.
And because this version of me existed in the future, I was essentially already financially independent. I just hadn’t caught up to this future me.
Through this concentrated visualization, it was almost as if I could speak to this future me. And this future Jason was telling me the journey was already complete, as long as the me of late 2014 continued to save and invest my way toward that future version of myself. The future me was reaching across time, motivating the current me to become him.
It’s a fascinating way to look at things.
But it’s also a paradox, as I outlined years ago.
The only way the future me can exist, which is motivating the me of late 2014, is through the actions that prompted that future version of myself to manifest in the first place.
So it’s almost as if there’s a present-day you and a future you that are simultaneously working together to cement a future – it’s more or less a self-fulfilling prophecy.
As such, when you envision a future you that’s more successful, happy, and financially free than you are today, you can’t help but succeed in your endeavors.
You Cannot Waver
As soon as you start to waver in your vision and belief, though, that future you starts to become less real. It almost starts to disappear into thin air. This version goes from a solid form – as real as you sit right now – to an apparition-like figure.
And that future you will vaporize completely if you’re not careful to stay the course and believe with your whole heart, mind, and soul.
I’ve written before about how powerful aspects like consistency, persistence, and will are.
These aspects are powerful in isolation. But they’re far more powerful when used together, as they all tend to complement and add to one another. Moreover, will is arguably the most powerful of all. If you have enough will, you’ll not lack consistency or persistence.
But the thing is, you also have to have conviction.
Saving and investing for a few months because you’re fed up with your job is one thing.
Believing in and giving your all to a multi-year journey, where you’re literally betting a major chunk of your life on something, is quite another.
Spending years of your life working toward an all-encompassing paradigm shift in your life takes a massive amount of conviction. But if you’re 100% sure you’ll succeed, there’s no way you’ll fail.
That Future Me Is Now The Present Me
It’s amazing for me to think back on this.
I’ve come full circle here.
I’m now the future me.
That me of the future that I envisioned as financially independent and immensely happy is now the me that woke up today and started writing this very article.
And I can say that it turned out more or less as I had thought it would.
I’ll go ahead and quote myself from the article I linked to earlier (written more than three years ago):
He lives without fear of going broke or having to work for the rest of his life. The decisions he makes aren’t based around money at all, but rather maximizing time and happiness.
Well, that’s me. I live exactly that way. And maximizing time and happiness is exactly what a lot of my writing these days is all about. Talk about forecasting the future!
Did I anticipate I’d be living in another country?
Not really. I didn’t fully anticipate moving abroad to become a dividend expat. But I’m the kind of person who’s open to and excited about expanding my perspective and options. I was single before I came here. I have no children. There is almost nothing tying me to the Sates. So it’s not that much of a stretch for me to live here.
I also didn’t think everything would happen as soon as it did. My original goal – way back when I first started saving and investing in 2010 – was to quit my job by 40 years old, in 2020.
But I gave it the kind of superhuman effort and focus that few people are capable of sustaining over a six-year stretch of time. It was more or less meant to be for me.
See, the more the present-day me (of years prior) became the future me, the more I wanted to become that future version of myself. Seeing the gap closing in real-time propelled me along this course where the self-fulfilling prophecy, well, fulfilled itself.
And now I’m looking forward to becoming a version of myself that exists 10 years from now. This version will almost certainly be even wealthier, healthier, happier, and more free than the me that exists in 2018. He’ll certainly be more intelligent and experienced. If I don’t learn something new every day, I’m pretty disappointed.
I can already envision a me of the future…
This future me will be a more accomplished philanthropist and investor. He will have helped far more people realize their dreams and become financially independent. He will have seen more countries, met more people, enjoyed more amazing memories, had far more laughs, and expanded his perspective. (And he’ll probably find out he sucks at more things than he thinks!)
I’m extremely excited to meet him and become him, in time. I’m constantly striving toward that future version of me and striving toward my potential as a human being.
But I never, ever lose conviction that I will become everything I know I can be.
Conclusion
This idea of becoming a future version of yourself motivated and inspired a coaching client of mine, Tyler, to start his own blog based around this concept. Well, he also became that future version of himself, quitting his job and pursuing his passions in the process.
But what you have to do in order to become a better, healthier, happier, wealthier, and more free version of yourself is to stay the course, believe with everything you have, and know with 100% conviction that you’ve already achieved your dreams in a future timeline that you simply have not yet experienced. Events you wish for have already come to pass. It’s an inevitability. You just haven’t yet caught up to a future you.
If you visualize a future, better you and fully believe that you’ll become this person, it will happen.
Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right.
-Henry Ford
Think it’s important to have conviction? Have you ever lost conviction in your journey to become happier, healthier, wealthier, and more free? Are you coming closer to meeting a future you, every day?
Thanks for reading.
Image courtesy of: Sira Anamwong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
P.S. If you have the full conviction to become a future version of yourself, check out some wonderful resources that personally helped me reach financial independence and retire abroad in my 30s.
Jason, I have always believed in this philosophy you write about. If you can visualize it, you can achieve it. Most everything meaningful I have accomplished, I envisioned some times many years in advance. It’s really powerful and very satisfying when you look back. Tom
Tom,
Absolutely. This concept moves beyond simple planning, delving into a far more powerful and tangible idea. If you can make it real enough to practically see it, does it not then actually exist? And if it does exist, how can you possibly then fail?
Thanks for dropping by!
Cheers.
Great post as usual, Jason.
Some people don’t understand the power of visualization. A while ago, I remember reading your article about your future version of yourself. It happened already in your life. You are the living proof, and you are living the life you wanted to be.
I also visualize my future version of myself – Financial independence with growing passive income, and I could do whatever I want without worrying about my day job. And, I will have more free time to think and work for myself in my interesting field.
FJ,
Thanks so much! 🙂
I knew this guy existed. I knew he was out there, enjoying his life. Didn’t plan on meeting him so fast, but I think my dedication, intensity, and focus was really off the charts there for a few years. It’s still quite high by most standards, even if I’ve been able to relax a bit these days.
If you can see this person, they exist. They’re as real as anything else you can see and touch today. And if this person is real, catching up to them in time is an inevitability.
Best wishes!
Thoughts made manifest. They’re much more than thoughts, though, aren’t they? More like directives.
I think you hit the nail on the head here. You can’t do this half-heartedly and expect miracles. As with many things in life, if you dedicate yourself wholly to FI you’ll get there faster and in a better position. Great reminder!
Moose,
Absolutely. Input equals output. I knew all along that extreme output (becoming financially independent in a pretty short period of time) required extreme output. And so visualizing this future version of myself was just one part of that. I’m not sure anything else motivated me quite as much as actually seeing myself enjoying this totally free life. Once I could see it, it existed. And once I knew it existed, I had to do whatever possible to get there.
Thanks for stopping in!
Best regards.
See, this right here is the kind of optimistic kick in the head that people need when grinding towards FI. Sure, it can be a long journey, and people can lose motivation along the way. But all they need to do is bookmark this page, and re-read it when they need a boost. Instant laser-focus on your goals.
Top work Jason.
MRF,
Thanks. I do hope it provides that optimism and inspiration people need sometimes.
This concept certainly worked for me. Once I was able to reach out across time and see this future version of myself actually existing, I knew nothing could stop me. It was only a matter of time until I caught up to him. And seeing the happiness and freedom that was possible, it motivated me to get my butt in gear and give it nothing less than 100%. 🙂
Cheers!
This visualization exercise is really interesting – great thoughts here. I’m going to start thinking like this to ensure the Ty of the future turns out exactly how I’m envisioning. Gotta take those steps now to make sure I don’t kill the future me that I need to exist!
Ty,
Once you see that future version of yourself, I think it’ll give you an extra gear to move forward. 🙂
Cheers!
This is a fantastic message Jason! Although life can throw the proverbial curve ball, it’s important to hold your conviction because no one else is going to hold you to it (except maybe a mom).
Lily,
Definitely. The only person who could stop me, was me. Once I realized that, I was able to get out of my own way and allow the real-time me and future me become one in time. 🙂
Best wishes!
This is very interesting. I know where I want to be in 10 years, but I haven’t really visualized it. Imagining your future self is hard.
I had some doubt when I early retired 5 years ago. It was scary, but I figured why not give it a shot. I could always go back to work if I really need to. Today, I’m a lot happier than when I was working full time. Sometime you just have to go for it.
I’ll work on my future me.
Joe,
You should definitely give it a go, especially if there are concrete goals/concepts you have in mind for yourself. Input has a lot to say about output. If the input is somewhat muddy, the output is likely going to be similar.
That all said, there’s a lot of value in contentment. I certainly don’t have to envision my future self as aggressively as before, but I’m almost as excited about meeting the me of five years from now as I was about meeting the FI version of myself.
Thanks for dropping by!
Best regards.
Okay, first off, I didn’t know Dividend Mantra was still alive!
Second, your article reminds me of something Dilbert creator Scott Adams said about affirmations. He always said that whenever he would tell himself that he would achieve something, it ended up happening. He denied that it was any kind of “magic”, but he believed that the focus and optimistic energy that came from doing affirmations was the key. This focus and energy building could come in many forms, from praying to the very visualization that you did, Jason.
Amazing how much things have changed since 2014. When you wrote that article, you were still working full time at the auto place, right?
Sincerely,
ARB–Angry Retail Banker
ARB,
Yeah, I couldn’t agree more with that. Attitude and mindset is everything. I’ll get emails sometimes from people telling me how they can’t reach financial independence because of this excuse and that reason. And I simply tell them they’re absolutely correct; there is no way they can achieve financial independence with that kind of outlook.
I had recently quit my dealership job when I wrote that article. And I’d reach financial independence less than two years later. I believed in it with everything I had. 🙂
Best wishes!
All too often people do the exact opposite of what you have accomplished. They borrow money and raise debt basically letting “future me” holding the bag. I call it the “fast food” mentality where everything is in the here and now. No one seems to care about the long term effects any more. Our younger selves are essentially robbing from our future selves because we are only concerned about the here and now. I too made those mistakes and delayed my FIRE date by decades because of it but it is not too late to see the light and turn around. I’m living proof of that when I made my financial turnaround in my early 40s and on track to retire in my early 50s.
xrayvsn,
Congrats to you for turning it around. I don’t think it’s ever too late! 🙂
Yeah, there’s a reckoning to consider there. You’re writing your own history, every day. You’re creating a story for yourself, a legacy, a life. It’s up to you how that narrative plays out, but you really have to be mindful of how seemingly small, everyday actions really add up over time.
Thanks for dropping by!
Cheers.