Does your future self inspire you?

I talk a lot in this blog about the inspiration I draw from others. I've also talked about looking at your future self thirty years down the road and asking, "What would I look back and be proud of? What would I regret if I didn't do it?"

Now, thanks to Kate Hudson's post about drawing inspiration from your future self, I find myself asking, "How would my future self inspire me?"

If I were to create a future self who would be a source of inspiration to me today, what would that look like? What life would I have lived? How would I have lived it? What decisions would I have made? What impact would I have had on the world around me?

The first step in figuring all that out is taking a look at the people who inspire me and asking, "Why?" What is it about them that are inspiring? And once I put my finger on the reasons, how do they relate to my life?

This merits a deeper exploration, but off the top of my head I see several characteristics that are consistently there in the people that inspire me.

• They care.
• They're focused on making a positive impact in the world.
• They're doggedly persistent.
• They encounter obstacles, but refuse to let the obstacle define the path.
• They hear their own tune and dance to it, even when nobody else can hear it.
• They speak their own truth, unswayed by the opinions of others.
• They have had the courage to change and grow.

Once I have the list, I can start taking a look at my life through the lens of those inspirational characteristics. How does my current life measure up to them? Where am I strong in self-inspiration? Where am I missing a step? What do I need to do differently in the future? What do I have the opportunity to build on?

What about you? Who inspires you, and why?

[Hat tip to Inspiration Bit for the link to Kate's post.]

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Comments

[Ellen]

Curt, thanks for this post!
It's an inspiring, and thought-provoking one, and what better time than Christmas than contemplating on this..

I already had an action for myself for the holidays, to answer to the meme that asks you to write a letter to your 13-year old self. Looking back on what you would tell him/her about, warn about, be proud of, and enjoy more.
Together with this question, like what would I like my future self to be like, how happy am I with my current self, is really an interesting challenge.

Love your list by the way, I think mine would be much the same.. Staying true to their/my own values, being determined to make a positive impact, within their/my own capabilities/talents, being compassionate are definitely among them..
Thanks again, wishing you happy and peaceful holidays,

Ellen

[Curt Rosengren]

Thanks Ellen. What I think is really interesting about all that is how much insight there is to be had when we get out of our same ol' perspective and look at things from different angles.

[Akemi]

Good post. Visualizing the future state of my life and looking back to now gives perspective.

Curt, do you care to take the eulogy challenge? It is the ultimate way to put the past, present, and future of life in perspective. Please see this post for details.

Thank You All -- The Eulogy Challenge

Akemi

[Akemi]

Well, the link didn't work. The URL of the post is:
http://gratitude-magic.com/2007/12/24/my-eulogy-thank-you-all/