What would Past Igor say if he met Future Igor? Would he be impressed by the wisdom, disappointed by the waistline, or wonder how we developed such an intense relationship with pastries? While we can’t physically time travel, we can use mental time travel as a powerful tool - imagining conversations across our past, present, and future selves. Think of it as a group chat between Past Igor (that idealistic youngster), Present Igor (hello!), and Future Igor (who’s probably shaking his head at both of us). Let’s explore how these three versions of ourselves are constantly chatting, arguing, and occasionally giving each other virtual fist bumps across the space-time continuum.
Overview
There are three ways we time travel with ourselves:
- Reminiscing about our past
- Experiencing our present
- Anticipating our future
Often these get confused and tangled together.
The Marshmallow Test
[Content about delayed gratification and how it relates to our past/future selves]
The Regrets Framework
[Content about common regrets and how to avoid them by making decisions our future self would thank us for]
Optimizing for Tomorrow vs Feeling Good Today
The eternal balance - how do we make choices that serve both our present and future selves?
Work/Life Balance Through Time
How our perspective on work/life balance shifts through different phases of life.
Bad Uses of Time
Creating Twice
[Content about inefficient rework]
Under/Over Preparing
Just because you can prepare more doesn’t mean you should.
The Eulogy Paradox
Writing your eulogy doesn’t mean everything happens - it’s an aspiration, not a guarantee.