Have you ever written a letter to yourself? I’ve done it once before. It was the summer after I graduated high school and I was tasked with writing a letter to myself. I was told I would receive the letter in the mail six months later. I could write about anything I wanted. Sure enough, right around Christmas time, my letter was in the mailbox waiting for me. Here’s a copy of that letter….
Dear Ninja,
I hope you are enjoying college in San Diego. I also hope you are playing lots of tennis and meeting a ton of sweet people, and by sweet people I mean a ton of girls. I also hope that you have at least surfed once by now. Do you miss home at all? Are you still going to church? Are you living a life that you will be proud of 20 years from now? I know that you will be making good decisions, ’cause if you aren’t I’m going to have to come hunt you down and kill you.
Much Love,
Ninja.
p.s. you are sexy
Being that I was a recent high school graduate, I thought the exercise was a little cheesy and didn’t really take it too seriously. My letter lacks true substance and direction. I jotted down a few sentences without putting much thought in to what I was writing.
Yes, my douche-baggery prevented this letter from living up to it’s full potential, but, being the mature ninja I am today (I know I’m not really that mature), I’ve decided it’s time to give this exercise a second chance.
Here’s my plan…
Tonight, I will write a letter to my 10-years-from-now future self and will post it on my blog tomorrow. My only rule is that I actually put some thought in to the letter this time.
It would be awesome if at least a few of you fellow PFers followed suit and wrote to your future selves. It’s an easy and efficient way to share with your readers, not only what is important to you today, but what you hope is important to you 10 years from now. I don’t care if you link back to my article or not. This isn’t about self promotion, it’s about taking a little time to reflect on how far we have come, and how much further we would like to go.
What do you say? Are you in? (if not I’ll feel like a total tool, but that’s okay I guess)
{ 17 comments }
I'm in. Great idea. Look for my letter tomorrow.
Oh I love it! I'm TOTALLY IN!!
Ohh! This is great! I may not be able to write it by tomorrow but I WILL do this. Fabulous idea PUNCH!
I'm in! I'll link back to this post and tomorrow's post. I'll try to think of something with substance, but it may come out like your letter from high school. Just sayin…
dont worry, i am thinking mine may be quite a bit like his letter from high school too
I'm in.
I would like to see everyone's links. While it isn't about self promotion it is about learning from others.
Intriguing… as I was currently debating what to write about tomorrow you got me at a good time. Count me in.
Woohoo. I'm glad so many of you are interested. If you send me a link to your letter I can put it up with tomorrow's post so we have a consolidated list!
I’m in too. If I’m still delivering pizzas on the side in ten years I’m going to kick my own a$$. Mine will be up Thursday.
This sounds fun, I will not be able to do tomorrow, but hopefully soon.
Another way to do this is by using this site: http://www.futureme.org/
I wrote myself a letter immediately following my divorce. It's a cool site.
Good luck everyone!
that's super helpful, thanks for the link!
http://conqueringpersonalfinance.wordpress.com/20…
Here you go buddy. Thanks for the great idea.
Ok Punch, my letter is up. Thanks for the idea, I believe it's a great way to set up plans for the future.
Jeff
http://deliverawaydebt.com/yakezie/dear-dad-deliv…
Same Punch, such a good idea!
MFO
http://myfinancialobjectives.com/?p=300
Well, I got to this too late to have a letter finished by the twentieth, but I'll be sure to give this a shot before too long; it sounds like a fun concept.