Benjamin Hardy on making decisions that will influence you positively in the future

Gilbert is so right here. How do you see yourself in your future wealth, when you are currently stuck in poverty? It is the stuff of Tony Robbins seminars and encouraging church sermons and is often not seen as readily accessible. When you talk to people about vision boards and lofty goals, sometimes it seems as if you’re high on the self-help cool-aid.

According to research done by Dr. Daniel Gilbert at Harvard, it’s uncommon for people to spend much time imagining their future selves. Instead, people assume that who they are now is who they will always be. This is not only faulty thinking. But it leads to bad decision making.

As Gilbert states:

“At every stage of our lives we make decisions that will profoundly influence the lives of the people we’re going to become, and then when we become those people, we’re not always thrilled with the decisions we made.

So young people pay good money to get tattoos removed that teenagers paid good money to get. Middle-aged people rushed to divorce people who young adults rushed to marry. Older adults work hard to lose what middle-aged adults worked hard to gain. On and on and on.

The question is, as a psychologist, that fascinates me is, why do we make decisions that our future selves so often regret?”

Benjamin Hardy in the article: Make Decisions Today That Will Impress Your Friends In 20 Years

Also in the same article:

W. Clement Stone, founder of The Combined Insurance Company of America once said, “Big doors swing on small hinges.” Huge results often come from small changes.