Leaving a Gift For Future You
I had a ridiculously fun experience yesterday. Nearly four years after one of my clients stepped away from our coaching relationship, they reached out and asked if we could set up a one-time coaching meeting. They are contemplating a huge life decision and wanted a second opinion. I get it, as this is a heavy consideration in front of them, ripe with all sorts of consequences (financial and otherwise).
I understood the general concept and heart behind the question, but I didn't yet know the broader context. Then, as happens before all my coaching meetings, they sent me updated financial information. I opened the Excel file and smiled; I immediately knew something they didn't. In the nearly four years since we last met, they had done precisely as I recommended. They followed my advice nearly verbatim. That was the moment I knew it would be a fun and productive meeting!
My job was easy at that point. Instead of trying to measure all the pros and cons of this seemingly heavy decision, I was able to visually illustrate why not only could they do it, but they should do it. They diligently, intentionally, and consistently structured their finances and invested in such a way that they now have a myriad of options on how to handle the next season of life. That flexibility, in turn, will now unlock one of their dreams. They left a beautiful gift for their future selves, and today, their future selves are able to receive said gift.
This is the mind-bending part about our financial lives. Every decision we make impacts two people: Current us and future us. When current me makes a wise decision, it's a gift for future me. When current me makes a bone-headed decision, it's a curse for future me. Whether we want to admit it or not, future me will always become current me at some point in time. Even 80-year-old future Travis will become current Travis in 2061. A time will come when the future old man me will become current me.....I'll be that guy!
I think about this a lot when I reflect on the wild life choices Sarah and I have made over the past six years. With the benefit of hindsight, there was a wonderful season where then-current Travis and Sarah left a truly blessing-filled gift for future Travis and Sarah. That future Travis and Sarah is us today. We're reaping the blessing of decisions that previous versions of us made.
What gifts or curses are you leaving to your future self? That's an amazing question to ask today. What do you want your future self to have? What does future you need from current you today? Whatever the answer is to that question, today is a good day to give that gift.
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