Be Your Future Self Now Book Summary & Insights

“To be, or not to be? That is the question.” — William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Your past does not define you.  Your future does.   (Rather, how you define your future, defines you today.)

Do you have a big, bright future pulling your forward?  Or are you letting your past dictate your future and limit who you can be and what you are capable of?

Let me introduce you to your Future Self and how amazing your future really can be.

Better yet, let me introduce you to the book, Be Your Future Self Now, where Dr. Benjamin Hardy shows you the ropes and enlightens your way to build a better, brighter future by working on your Future Self.

This book goes beyond the inspiration of the Dr. Seuss classic, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, to ground you in science-based strategies and tactics to design, shape, and realize your most compelling future, even beyond your wildest imagination.

If you ever felt lost or limited by your past, this book is your guide to set you free.

What You Will Learn

In Be Your Future Self Now, Dr. Hardy uses stories, strategies, and skills to address 3 key things:

1. the science of your Future Self
2. how to connect with and create your desired Future Self
3. how to expand your Future Self far, far beyond what you current imagine

A Summary of the Summary

• Your Future Self is your best tool to make your dreams come true.
• Your future drives your present.  Your actions are not dictated or driven by your past—they are pulled forward by your future.
• All your actions are based on the future you see for yourself (whether that future is decades away, or seconds away).
• The more connected you feel to your Future Self, the more you will take better actions today to care for your Future Self.
• Every human action has a purpose, whether conscious or subconscious, and whether short term or long term.
• Knowing your WHY is the deepest form of knowledge because it drives your WHAT and HOW.
• Think and act “from” your goal, rather than toward your goal.
• Without a clear and conscious purpose, your behavior can be conflicted and chaotic.
• The clearer you are on where you want to go, the less you’ll be distracted by endless options.
• Your behavior will change because your identity changed.  Your identity is what you are most committed to.
• Being connected to your Future Self is the secret to being truly present.
• You can reframe your past using the gain, rather than the gap.  There’s always a lesson, even with great loss.
• The earlier you invest, the more your Future Self compounds.
• The detail and vividness of your Future Self, determines your ability to achieve it.
• Failing as your Future Self is better than succeeding as your current self.
• The path to a successful and happy life comes from shifting your goals from fear-based, reactive and short term, to proactive, long term, and love based.

The Quality of Your Connection with Your Future Self is the Key

It’s your picture of your Future Self that pulls you forward today.

Dr. Hardy writes:

“The quality of connection you have with your own Future Self determines the quality of your life and behaviors now.”

The science is on your side, if you use your Future Self to lift yourself today.

Dr. Hardy writes:

“Research shows that the more connected you are to your own Future Self, the wiser decisions you make here and now. 

Contemplating your Future Self, you’re more likely to invest in and set yourself up for an abundant retirement, exercise and eat healthier, and you’re less likely to engage in delinquent or self-defeating acts.”

The Story of MrBeast

Dr. Hardy starts us off with a story—the story of MrBeast.  Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast, in 5 years, went from a 17-year old kid with no money and little skills to making tens of millions of dollars, and being one of the most famous people on the planet.

Jimmy used his Future Self to become his desired Future Self and become the fastest rising internet sensation ever.

Dr. Hardy writes:
“The creation of his future me videos became a turning-point in Jimmy’s life. 

These candid conversations marked a curcial inflection point where Jimmy got courageous toward his dreams.

Within a few years, he made hundreds of millions of dollars as the fastest rising internet sensation, ever.”

What did Jimmy do exactly?

He recorded a series of 4 videos, to talk to his Future Self:

1. Video 1 – Future Self, 6 months into the future
2. Video 2 – Future Self, 12 months into the future
3. Video 3 – Future Self, 5 years into the future
4. Video 4 – Future Self, 10 years into the future

Jimmy created all 4 videos on October 4, 2015, but timed the videos to release exactly 6 months, 12 months, 5 years, and 10 years from October 4, 2015.

In each video, Jimmy spoke from his Future Self and stated what he hoped his subscriber count would be by that time.  After the first video went viral, Jimmy crushed his goals again and again.

As Jimmy built momentum, his confidence grew where he embodied his MrBeast persona and he created crazier videos with more confidence and creativity, all inspired by how he connected deeply with his Future Self.

Jimmy’s Future Self laid out a bigger future for himself, but Jimmy’s Current Self immediately took on bigger and bolder actions.

Dr. Hardy writes:

“Like MrBeast, you can create a future radically beyond anything you can currently imagine.”

You are Not Your Past—You are Your Future Self

The science shifted.  Out with the old paradigms and in with the new models of helping you become a better you.

The science shifted from defining you by your past to defining you by your future.  That’s a good thing.

The past is blame.  But the future holds possibility.  You get to create it and shape it with your thoughts and actions going forward.

From the 1800s to the late 1900s, the field of psychology focused on human problems.   It was dominated by determinism, where your past events dictate who you are what you’re doing now.

“Much of the history of psychology has been dominated by a framework in which people and animals are driven by the past.” — Martin Seligman

In the 1990s, “positive psychologists” shifted their focus to figure out how does somebody become happy, healthy, and successful.

The big idea is that rather than your past driving or dictating your actions and behaviors, you are pulled forward by your future.

And the bottom line is that the path to a successful and happy life comes from shifting your goals from fear-based, reactive and short term, to proactive, long term, and love based.

Your WHY Drives Your WHAT and HOW

When you create clarity, confidence, and compassion for your Future Self, you immediately change your behavior to align with your purpose.

Dr. Hardee writes:
“Your behavior follows your purpose and goals.”

There are 3 levels to understanding every behavior:

1. The WHAT
2. The HOW
3. The WHY

Knowing the WHY is the deepest and most powerful form of knowledge, because it drives the WHAT and the HOW.

Without conscious purpose, your HOW can become conflicted and chaotic.

But, when you are conscious and clear about choosing your purpose, the how begins to take care of itself.

Every Human Action Has a Purpose

We’re wired for scenario planning.

We, as humans, have the ability to project into the future and play out countless possibilities.  We can think through, play out in our minds, and make decisions about hundreds of potential futures.

From this viewpoint, all human action and behavior is driven by goals.  The goals may be short term or long term.  The goals may be conscious or subconscious.

Dr. Hardee shares 3 questions to ask yourself:

1. What is the reason or goal for this activity?
2. What benefits am I getting from this?
3. Where is this activity taking me?

Your WHY Drives Your Thoughts, Energy, and Actions

Are you moving towards pleasure or away from pain?

You can think of all goals or motivation in terms of two categories:

1. approach motivations
2. avoid motivations

Dr. Hardy writes:

“Approach motivations and avoid motivations are both goals.  For instance, going to work because you don’t want to lose your house is an avoidance-driven goal. 

Going to work to get a promotion is more approach-motivated.

Your reason or goal, whether positive or negative, approach or avoidance motivated, is the drive of your thoughts, energy, and actions.

In all instances, humans act as we do based on the future we see for ourselves. 

That may be a future we’re trying to avoid, or a future we’re trying to create. 

That future maybe be decades or seconds away.”

Shift from Fearing Your Future to Fulfilling Your Future

You can shift yourself from a fear-based future to a bigger, better, brighter future filled with love and optimism.

The average person is driven by short-term goals and fear.

Dr. Hardy writes:

“Being driven by fear is a lower state of consciousness than being driven by courage and vision. 

Deep emotional development is required to transition beyond fear as your driver to levels of acceptance, courage, and love as reasons for action.”

Your Future Self is the compass that defined your path and guides you for the road ahead.

Dr. Hardy writes:

“Shifting our goals from fear-based, reactive, and short term to proactive, long term, and love-based is the path to a successful and happy life. 

Your view of your Future Self is the compass that draws you forward.”

Your Future Self Helps You Be More Present, Right Here, Right Now

You Future Self can help you be more mindful and make your moments more meaningful.

When you live each moment, thinking and acting from your Future Self, you value your present even more.

It’s a simple, but profound idea.

Dr. Hardy writes:

“I decided to give Frankl’s idea a try.
I decided to live the rest of the day as if I were my Future Self, 20 years into the future, and my Future Self had the opportunity to time travel back and relive the rest of today.”

What did Dr. Hardy learn from his experiments of experiencing his day through his Future Self?

Dr. Hardy writes:

“This is why the research on Future Self is so compelling.  Being connected allows you to better comprehend and appreciate the goldmine of this moment, right here. 

Seeing your current life through the eyes of your Future Self, you see opportunities you were previously blind to. 

If you stay connected with your Future Self, you’ll value your present.”

When You Feel the Seismic Shift Within You, You’re Doing It Right

When you become your Future Self in the current moment, you feel a seismic shift.

You Future Self is operating at a higher level with the wisdom of hindsight from the future.

Except that future is today.

You can choose to embody your Future Self and align your thoughts and behaviors and emotions to your Future Self.

You literally becomes your new identity from the future.

Dr. Hardy writes:

“The seismic shift within felt elevated, evolved, and profound.  Things that normally frustrated me seemed completely trivial.  Totally in flow, I loved the things that often annoyed me. 

Not only did I feel present and engaged, but I acted with greater kindness, perspective, and wisdom. 

My Future Self would handle this situation differently and better than current me.”

Threats to Your Future Self

The threats to your Future Self are real and ever-present.   The threats are dilemmas to be managed versus problems to be solved.

As you address each of the threats to your Future Self in a mindful and deliberate way, you build skills to use your Future Self to grow better in the direction of your dreams.

Dr. Hardy outlines the key threats to your Future Self to be aware of and defend against:

1. Threat #1 – Without hope in your future, your present loses meaning
2. Threat #2 – A reactive narrative about your past stunts your future
3. Threat #3 – Being unaware of your environment creates a random evolution
4. Threat #4 – Being disconnected to your Future Self leads to myopic decisions
5. Threat #5 – Urgent battles and small goals keep you stuck
6. Threat #6 – Not being in the arena is failing by default
7. Threat #7 – Success if often the catalyst of failure

Your Future Self is the realization of your purpose.  Purpose is your inextinguishable motivation.

Dr. Hardy writes:

“Lose the purpose for your future and you die in the present.”

Dr. Hardy makes a great case for hope.  He shows us how hope is the backbone of grit, and that hope is better than optimism.

While optimism is a general sense that the future will be better, hope is more specific.

According to Dr. Hardy, hope is:

1. a clear and specific goal
2. agency thinking.  Belief you have control over what you do, that your actions matter, and you can impact the results in your life.
3. pathways thinking.  You see a path, have a path, or can create multiple paths from where you are now to your goal.

And high-hopers commit 100 percent to a specific result, while staying flexible in their means.

Truths About Your Future Self

By grasping the truths of your Future Self, you’ll be equipped to dictate who your Future Self becomes.

Dr. Hardy writes:

“You’ll have the power to create a life beyond anything you currently imagine”.

Dr. Hardy outlines the key Truths that help you shape your Future Self:

1. Truth #1 – Your future drives your present
2. Truth #2 – Your Future Self is different than you expect
3. Truth #3 – Your Future Self is the Pied Piper
4. Truth #4 – The more vivid and detailed your Future Self, the faster you’ll progress
5. Truth #5 – Failing as your Future Self is better than succeeding as your current self
6. Truth #6 – Success is achieved by being true to your Future Self, nothing else
7. Truth #7 – Your view of God impacts your Future Self

Your Future Self is yours for the shaping.

Dr. Hardy writes:

“Your Future Self is not set in stone.
There are an infinite number of directions your life can go.
Your Future Self is inevitable.
In 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or 20, baring fatality, you will become someone. 

The question to ask yourself is: Who will your Future Self be?

That is, perhaps, the most important question any human can ask themself.”

7 Steps for Being Your Future Self

It’s time to put it all together.   You learned the threats to your Future Self and the truths about your Future Self.

But how do you put it all together and figure out your Future Self for real?

Dr. Hardy has you covered with 7 action steps to help you clarify, prioritize, and be your desired Future Self:

1. Step #1 – Clarify your contextual purpose
2. Step #2 – Eliminate lesser goals
3. Step #3 – Elevate from needing to wanting to knowing
4. Step #4 – Ask for exactly what you want
5. Step #5 – Automate and systemize your Future Self
6. Step #6 – Schedule your Future Self
7. Step #7 – Aggressively complete imperfect work

Keep in mind, this is not about being easy.  It’s about being worth it.

It’s your meaning that gives rise to your Future Self and makes your journey matter.

Use these action steps to grow yourself beyond your wildest imagination.

Dr. Hardy writes:

“As you apply the steps, your life will quickly change.  Every day you’ll live with more intention and commitment. 

You’ll weed out lesser goals.  You’ll have a more definite attitude about your Future Self.
You’ll increasingly know what you want is yours.
Your system will change, enabling you to create incredible results with increased ease and flow.
Your schedule will change, reflecting your priorities instead of lesser goals.
You’ll become increasingly productive and prolific, creating even better work.”

Get the Book

Be Your Future Self Now is available on Amazon:

Be Your Future Self Now, by Dr. Benjamin Hardy

TED Talks on Future Self

Dr. Hardy shares a nice roundup of TED Talks on Future Self:

• The psychology of your Future Self
• The battle between your present and Future Self
• Essential questions to ask your Future Self
• A journey to your Future Self
• Guidance from your Future Self
• Saying hello to your Future Self
• How can we help our Future Selves
• Thinking forward for your Future Self
• How to make our present self become our Future Self
• Challenge your Future Self
• How to step into your Future Self

Free Gapingvoid Images from Be Your Future Self Now

Hugh Macleaod of Gaping void created 60 color images for Be Your Future Self Now that you can get for free:

https://futureself.com/GAPINGVOID

The color images make nice posters for your office and they help show ideas, share ideas, and make ideas stick.

Hugh is a fun artist.  He uses pithy visuals to make big ideas pop.

I remember early on, Hugh created a viral poster with a famous blue monster saying “Microsoft change the world or go home”.

And I worked with Hugh a few years back on visuals to distill the big ideas behind Digital Transformation.

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