Benjamin Hardy

This is a really interesting concept in psychology. Typically, the way we look at time is we look at it as past, present, and future. And we kind of look at it sequentially. And we also look at it chronologically, like my past is behind me. There's no way I can get back there. My present is now and the future's up ahead of me. I can never, I'll never actually be able to go into the future.

And they're certainly not mutually exclusive in terms of being in the gain, but also having a future-oriented mindset. Most people who read The Gap and The Gain are very future-oriented people. The gain doesn't stop you, I guess, from having a future. Actually, in my perspective, whenever I'm living in the gain, it actually helps me to be more...

All there is, is really now from a psychology standpoint, that's not how psychologists view time. Psychologists don't view time sequentially. We actually view it holistically. So what I mean by that is, is that the past is currently existing in my life. Like, who I'm being right now is a complete amalgamation of my views of my past, my experiences of my past.

it helps me to have a future that's more genuinely coming from my own self rather than something that's coming from the outside. Usually people's goals and their, call it their standards or their ideals, actually were fed to them by culture, by society. They don't even, you know, the future that they want actually isn't genuinely intrinsically motivated.

We even today, we're talking about us having a conversation four years ago, right? And so like my past is, of course, influencing me right now. And my narration of the past, my story of the past, the feelings I have toward my past, the anchors I may have in my past that are unresolved, call it trauma or whatever. But also my goals are heavily influencing me. I mean...

And so for me, tapping into the game just helps me to stop worrying about the outside world as much, stop competing with other people. And so in terms of future self, Um, I guess I would say in simple terms, we all have a future self. What the research shows is, is that most people, especially the older they get, they stop thinking about their future self very much.

Anyone who's listening to this is listening to it for a reason. They're listening to it because they feel like this is going to help them contribute to their goals or help them move forward in their lives. And so everything about my life right now is a combination of my feelings and my perspectives of my past and also my excitements or my feelings towards the future. And so...

Um, most people probably 30 and above assume that even their future self 10, 20 or 30 years from now is mostly going to be the same person they are today. So most people don't have huge imagination towards their future self. Right. What the research does show is that your future self is gonna be a wildly different person than you think. Even in five or 10 years from now,

And they're certainly not mutually exclusive in terms of being in the gain, but also having a future-oriented mindset. Most people who read The Gap and The Gain are very future-oriented people. The gain doesn't stop you, I guess, from having a future. Actually, in my perspective, whenever I'm living in the gain, it actually helps me to be more

it's going to be hard to fully predict who your future self will be. But if you start imagining it, start thinking about it, and importantly, getting really connected to your future self, who you want to be in the future, you can then start using, obviously, your vision of your future self to guide and direct who you're going to be today, and you can be extremely intentional about it.

it helps me to have a future that's more genuinely coming from my own self rather than something that's coming from the outside. Usually people's goals and they're called their standards or their ideals actually were fed to them by culture, by society. They don't even, you know, the future that they want actually isn't genuinely intrinsically motivated.

And so from my standpoint, the best thing to do is get really clear and connected to your future self, who you want to be, get very specific about that, and then use that as... I guess you could say the North Star for directing everything you're doing here and now. And each and every day as you're moving forward, you're measuring yourself against where you were before.

And so for me, tapping into the gain just helps me to stop worrying about the outside world as much, stop competing with other people. And so in terms of future self, Um, I guess I would say in simple terms, we all have a future self. What the research shows is, is that most people, especially the older they get, they stop thinking about their future self very much.

You're measuring yourself backwards and you're always seeing that by increasingly living intentionally as your future self, you're always outgrowing your past self. And I do this daily. I mean, if I even look at where I was... A week ago. I am not the same person I was last week. I've changed a lot. I've grown a lot. I know a ton of things my past self didn't know.

Um, most people probably 30 and above assume that even their future self 10, 20 or 30 years from now is mostly going to be the same person they are today. So most people don't have huge imagination towards their future self. Right. What the research does show is that your future self is gonna be a wildly different person than you think. Even in five or 10 years from now,

And so I'm never my past self and I'm always growing into my future self. That's kind of how I see it.

It's going to be hard to fully predict who your future self will be. But if you start imagining it, start thinking about it, and importantly, getting really connected to your future self, who you want to be in the future, you can then start using, obviously, your vision of your future self to guide and direct who you're going to be today. And you can be extremely intentional about it.

And so from my standpoint, the best thing to do is get really clear and connected to your future self, who you want to be, get very specific about that, and then use that as... I guess you could say the North Star for directing everything you're doing here and now. And each and every day as you're moving forward, you're measuring yourself against where you were before.

You're measuring yourself backwards and you're always seeing that by increasingly living intentionally as your future self, you're always outgrowing your past self. And I do this daily. I mean, if I even look at where I was... A week ago. I am not the same person I was last week. I've changed a lot. I've grown a lot. I know a ton of things my past self didn't know.

And so I'm never my past self and I'm always growing into my future self. That's kind of how I see it.

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