Tuesday's Rule #15
Tomorrow you
Welcome to this week’s edition of Tuesday’s Rule! A weekly breakdown of a “life rule” question I’ve found interesting or useful.
It's the first of the question mini-series.
According to Naval Ravikant (who I could quote every week):
All self-help boils down to choosing long-term over short-term
These words are really simple, but the sentiment behind them is far more complicated than it sounds. Thinking long-term is a challenge for us mere mortals.
We don’t need to labour the point here about why long-term thinking is important, but let’s agree that ‘short-term you’ doesn’t always have your genuine best interests at heart.
Unfortunately, long-term thinking is difficult for a few reasons.
It's in part because the future is hypothetical. The reason we're such short-term creatures is that whilst we can recall the past, it's only the current moment that exists.
Prioritising hypotheticals ahead of the here and now is difficult. Short-term outcomes are typically predictable and comfortable.
It’s related to how our brains are wired.
Short-term thinking is a survival mechanism deeply embedded in us from when our ancestors had to constantly think about where their next meal was coming. Our brains adapted to prioritise rapid decision making to take advantage of short-term opportunities, or react to immediate threats.
Long-term planning was just not a priority for our ancestors.
Nowadays, we're typically just too busy.
Thinking long-term doesn't fit in to our busy lives which leave our cognitive and emotional resources stretched thin.
A busy schedule, full of the urgent means that we have a reduced ability to think and plan ahead.
Sitting down and making a 10-year plan doesn’t tend to fit in to a modern lifestyle.
There are many tactics and suggestions online for improving long-term thinking and unlocking its benefits, but the long and short of it is that it is really hard.
So today’s question takes a slightly… short-term approach to long-term thinking…
What Would Tomorrow You Want You To Do Today?
This question doesn’t replace the need for genuine long-term thinking and planning. But this is a neat, simple and tactical question to ask to remind yourself to act in service of future you.
It does so in a few ways, which counteract the challenges laid out above.
It makes the future real.
‘The future’ is a concept. A mirage.
‘Tomorrow’ is… tomorrow.
You know how you'll feel tomorrow after that extra beer.
You can imagine you'll be frustrated to come downstairs tomorrow morning and remember you didn't do the washing up.
You know how good you'll feel if you go to the gym this evening.
It also encourages us to ignore instant gratification.
Instant gratification is one of the main reasons short-term thinking tends to win out.
Immediate rewards are often more appealing because they trigger a quick dopamine release which reinforces the behaviour that triggered it.
Holding that off and conquering your ancestor caveman brain will be easier if it’s in service of tomorrow you, someone you hopefully care deeply about.
Finally, it’s also pretty easy. While long-term thinking, multi-year plans and roadmaps take time and cognitive load, reminding yourself to act in service of tomorrow you, is quick, simple and powerful.
This question was put on my radar by Chris Williamson, the host of Modern Wisdom podcast. Of the question, he said:
It rips you out of the moment.
It stops you from relying so heavily on the confused chemical signals coming from your body and instead gives you a bit more distance.
It depersonalises the decision and helps you to treat yourself like a friend you’re responsible for helping.
It forces you to optimise for long-term thinking rather than immediate gratification.
It reminds you that ultimately decisions aren’t being made for you now, they’re being made for you in 24 hours, and 24 days, and 24 months.
A friend once told me that a big night on the booze is simply “borrowing happiness from the next day”.
Occasionally, it may be worth prioritising today over tomorrow.
But even on those days, pause and ask yourself the question.
What would tomorrow me want me to do today?
As always, acting deliberately beats acting passively, and this question may help us do exactly that.
Thanks, as always for reading. From me and tomorrow you.