How to Write a Letter to Your Future Self: Tips & Techniques

Writing a letter to your future self is a popular practice, especially before the New Year. People reflect on their values, goals, and what matters to them at this point in life. Plus, isn’t it fun to make predictions for the future and see how many of them become a reality? 

Such a letter also works as an inspirational tool, as you can set goals and track your progress toward them. If you’ve never written letters to the future, worry not – our guide below will explain everything. 

Why send a letter to your future self? 

People write letters to their future selves for many reasons. Here are the most popular ones: 

1. Reflect on your current life. Summarize what your life looks like, what inspires you, and what matters to you. In a year or five, you will open the letter and read what your life looked back then.
2. Set goals. Think about what you’d like to achieve in the future, and focus on these goals when writing a letter. These may be minor goals (such as losing ten pounds) or long-term ones (such as obtaining a doctorate). Envisioning your bright future will motivate you to achieve your goals.  
3. Realize how much you’ve grown. Imagine reading your letter in two or five years. By then, a lot will have changed in your life and you’ll be excited to notice these changes and look back on your life. 
4. Have fun! Make fun predictions, share personal stories and anecdotes, and include the craziest ideas about your life and the world in general. In a letter to yourself, you are free to include everything. 

How far into the future should you write your letter?

Before writing a letter, think about when want to receive it. Here are the most popular time frames: 

1. One year – many people write letters to open them in one year, for example, before the New Year or their birthday. One year is a perfect time frame to reflect on your current life, share your short-term goals, and track your progress on New Year’s resolutions.
2. Five years – with a five-year letter, you can set long-term goals and vision for the future, such as life changes and relationship milestones. Think about what you can achieve over this period and what you’d like to change in your life. In five years, you may notice that your personality evolved, and your key priorities have changed. 
3. Ten years – within such a substantial time frame, you can read a letter and get nostalgic about your past self. You can reflect on how various events in life shaped your personality. Focus on the long-term vision and your life outlook, and make ambitious predictions. If you choose this option, it’s best to write a physical letter and hide it someplace as online services might not be reliable. 

Also read:

Realistic Tips to Make New Year’s Resolutions You Can Stick To

Read

How to write a letter to yourself in the future 

Writing a letter to your future self can be an impactful and transforming experience. To benefit from it more, follow these recommendations. 

Reflect on your current life 

Think about where you are in your life right now. In one or five years, you might not remember the details about your life, so be specific. Here’s what to include when describing your current self: 

• Your interests, goals, and passions 
• Your study, job, and specific projects/activities that matter to you most
• What people surround you, your friends and loved ones
• Things you struggle with and your challenges 
• Whether you are happy at this point and your core values
• What excites and inspires you, and what you’d like to get rid of in your life. 

Including details about yourself makes great material for self-reflection in the future and noticing the progress you’ve made. 

Share your future vision

After describing your current state, write about aspirations and what you’d like to be in the future. This requires honesty and self-reflection. Think about the life you’d like to have in five or ten years, your ideal day, what career you want to pursue, and so on. Include both short-term, smaller goals and the big-picture ones. 

In addition to your dreams and aspirations, mention your fears, issues you’re facing, and things that hold you back. Thus, your future self will see the progress you’ve made over the years. 

Set goals 

Now that you’ve formulated the vision of your future, you can share specific goals in your letter. Depending on how soon you plan to open it, focus on short-term goals (such as getting in shape, learning to play guitar, or completing an important project at work) or bigger ones (such as graduating from the university, getting married, or moving abroad). 

Write about why these goals matter to you and what inspires you to pursue them. Thus, you will deeply reflect on your goals and values, and maybe discover something new about yourself even before you’ve finished writing the letter! 

Ask yourself questions

If you are often wondering “Will I be married with kids five years from now?” or “Will I relocate to Italy as I always wanted?”, why not ask your future self? With these questions, you will reveal what matters most for you and what you are concerned with at this point in life. Plus, they will give your future self something to reflect on and evaluate where your future self is going in life. 

Example questions to ask yourself: 

1. Did you manage to get a promotion, or did you leave the company? 
2. Are you happy with your current career, or did your interest take you in a different direction? 
3. What achievements are you most proud of? 
4. What are the most significant life events that occurred in five years? 
5. Did you marry your partner and do you have kids? 
6. What are your closest relationships like now? Did you find new friends? 7. What are your core beliefs and principles? 
8. What is the most important lesson that you’ve learned? 
9. Do you feel at home in the place you live in? 

Express gratitude 

End your letter with words of gratitude, kindness, and inspiration. Write what you're grateful for at this point in life and what you appreciate most. You might also want to say something nice and empowering to your future self. Express hope that in the future you will keep pursuing your dreams, taking care of yourself and your loved ones, and staying grateful for everything you have in life. 

Use the freewriting technique

If you don’t feel like following any rules when writing a letter to the future, use the freewriting method. All in all, this letter is personal, so you can include whatever you want. 

The freewriting technique assumes that you write down any thoughts that come to your head without reflecting on them. It is about letting go of control and helping your creativity flourish. You may reflect on any event in your life, wonder about the future, or hope to build the life of your dreams – wherever the creative process takes you. 

You may then edit the letter or send it as it is to share the flow of ideas with your future self. 

Make fun predictions 

Another great strategy for your letter is to make predictions for the future. It’s natural to be curious about how the world around us will change in five or ten years. 

Feel free to make future predictions or ask questions, no matter how funny they sound. Actually, the funnier the better! Here are some questions to ask in your letter: 

1. Do cars fly, or are we still stuck in traffic? 
2. Have AI robots taken over the world?
3. What is the most trending social media platform? 
4. Did people make contact with aliens?
5. Has the world become a better, safer, and more pleasant place? 
6. Are “The Kardashians” still on air? 

Letter to your future self - Templates 

Here are the template letters to give you some inspiration and help structure yours. 

Free services to send a letter to your future self 

You can write a letter to the future on paper, put it in the envelope, and hide somewhere in your place. This method has its old-fashioned charm. Yet, there are disadvantages – you can forget where you put it, or it can get lost when you’re moving houses. 

There are also convenient online services that will send your letter at any date you choose. Here are the most popular ones: 

FutureMe

This is a popular service where you can write and send a letter to the future. Choose a time frame, from six months to ten years, and set a delivery date. Type your letter on the website, enter your email address, and rest assured you’ll receive it on time. On the website, you can also read public letters of other people for inspiration. 

Gmail

You can send a letter to the future self from your Gmail account. Go to Gmail, click Compose to start a new letter, write the letter text, and add your email address as a recipient. At the bottom left, click the arrow next to the Send button and schedule when you’d like to receive the message. This method works best if you plan to receive a letter in a year or so. 

Letter to Yourself

This service will send a physical letter to our future self. Here’s how it works. You choose when you’d like to receive a letter, type in your message, and add your physical address. When the time comes, you’ll get a letter delivered to the address you provided, printed on paper. 

Writing a letter to the future is a great tool to increase self-awareness, discover your true goals and values, and inspire yourself to pursue long-term goals. Try it this year and enjoy the experience! 

Try our MySanta app

You can create wishlists, add exclusions, and communicate with your gifree secretly. Moreover, there is an option to track gifts and ensure that everyone buys a present on time.

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