Be Your Future Self Now- Benjamin Hardy - My Insights and Reflections

Every week I spend time on personal development and growth. My most recent read was Benjamin Hardy's Be Your Future Self Now. The book's insights on becoming the best version of oneself certainly resonated with me and gave me some great food for thought and actionable principles. Here are just some of the key takeaways I got from the book, hopefully you can find a few things that also resonate with you & take away for yourself.

Envisioning Your Future Self

So, what is the principle of your "future self", you ask? Well, in short, your future self is the person you aspire to be. To define your future self, you should think about all the details of who that person is: how they think, what actions they perform, and what habits they have, how they interact, where they "hangout", what their principles are etc. By clearly defining and visualising the person you aspire to be, you can align your current actions and decisions with that vision.

Psychological Time Travel

I found that one of the most thought-provoking ideas in the book was the principle of psychological time travel. Mentally projecting yourself into the future, the impact of your current actions. This means constantly considering the long-term consequences of your decisions and actions, what direction those decisions are taking you in and what effect they would have on the “future self” (think Back to the future where anything Marty does has an impact & consequence when he returns to current day). Always think what would my future self do, how would they think, how would they feel in any given situation, shape your future.?

Identity-Based Habits

The concept of identity-based habits really resonated with me. Hardy argues that our habits should reflect the person we want to become. This means developing daily routines that encourage?growth and align with your vision of your future self. Identity-based habits ensure that your actions are consistently moving you toward your goals, streamlining your workflow, and freeing up time to build even greater, more effective habits.

Overcoming Fear and Resistance

Overcoming fear and resistance is a difficult task, regardless of who you are or where you are from. Whether it is fear of failure, change, or uncertainty but tackling fears head-on enables you to make bold, innovative decisions, building resilience to setbacks and maintain momentum to the ultimate goal.

The Power of Relationships

Surrounding yourself with supportive, like-minded individuals is essential. For business leaders, this means building a network of mentors, peers, and team members who challenge as well as support you. With a supportive & inclusive network you gain collaboration, leading to innovative solutions alongside greater unity and team ethic.

Continuous Learning and Adaptation

The power of a growth mindset cannot be overstated. Embracing continuous learning and staying open to feedback and new ideas. A growth mindset helps you adapt to changes, stay competitive, and encourages experimentation and learning from failures and breeds innovation.

The Power of imperfect action

The importance of immediate and consistent action can not be underestimated. This means not waiting for the perfect moment but overcoming procrastination & seizing opportunities as they arise. Taking action builds momentum and accelerates progress, making you more responsive to challenges and opportunities.

Reading Be Your Future Self Now by Benjamin Hardy has been an absolute eye-opener. The principles outlined in the book provide a powerful roadmap for achieving personal and professional growth. By reflecting on who you want to be, envisioning your future self, adopting identity-based habits, overcoming fears, cultivating a supportive environment, embracing a growth mindset, and taking consistent action, you can transform harmful behaviours, change mindset, and drive towards long-term success.

These are just a few of the takeaways I had after reading the book, I would highly recommend giving it a read if you haven't. The book has loads more detail and many more principles that can help you improve your future, even if you take just one thing away, it would be time well spent.

As always I welcome sharing insights and experiences so if you have read Be Your Future Self Now, what did you take away and what improvements have you seen in life?