We're sunsetting PodQuest on 2025-07-28. Thank you for your support!
Export Podcast Subscriptions
cover of episode 180. Unlocking Your Future Self: Communication, Happiness & Wellbeing

180. Unlocking Your Future Self: Communication, Happiness & Wellbeing

2025/1/23
logo of podcast Think Fast, Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

Think Fast, Talk Smart: Communication Techniques
AI Deep Dive AI Chapters Transcript
People
H
Hal Hershfield
Topics
Hal Hershfield: 我研究的核心是人如何与他们的未来自我互动，以及这种互动如何影响他们的现在和未来的幸福感和福祉。我认为，将未来的自己视为一个独立的个体，并设身处地为他们着想，是做出更好选择、克服拖延症的关键。通过一些具体的练习，例如写信给未来的自己，并想象未来的自己写回信，可以帮助我们更好地与未来的自己建立联系，从而为未来的目标设定和实现做好准备。 我发现，人们与未来自我的联系程度因人而异，这与先天的性格和后天的经历都有关系。但是，我们可以通过一些方法来增强这种联系，例如：将未来的自己想象成一个需要被关爱的人；将大的目标分解成小的、更易于实现的任务；将痛苦的任务与快乐的任务结合起来；设定承诺机制，例如公开承诺；以及追踪自己的行为数据，以便更好地了解自己，并为未来做出更好的规划。 在与未来的自己沟通的过程中，可能会出现一些挑战，例如：设定的目标没有实现。但是，这并不一定意味着失败，这可能是一个成长的机会，可以帮助我们更好地理解自己，并调整未来的目标。 总而言之，与未来的自己进行有效的沟通，可以帮助我们更好地规划未来，实现目标，并提升幸福感和福祉。 Matt Abrahams: 作为一名沟通策略方面的专家，我非常认同Hal Hershfield教授的观点。与未来的自己进行沟通，实际上是一种自我对话和自我管理的有效方式。通过这种方式，我们可以更好地了解自己的需求和目标，并为实现这些目标制定切实可行的计划。 此外，我还想强调公开承诺的重要性。将自己的目标公开，可以增强我们的责任感，并激励我们更好地坚持下去。当然，在设定目标时，也需要注意目标的合理性和可实现性，避免设定过高的目标而导致挫败感。 最后，我想指出，成功的沟通需要具备换位思考、清晰和简洁三个要素。在与未来的自己沟通时，也应该遵循这些原则，避免使用过于复杂的语言或表达方式，从而确保沟通的有效性。

Deep Dive

Chapters
This chapter explores the concept of the future self and how communicating with it can improve our present well-being. It emphasizes the importance of emotional investment in our future selves and the use of vivid imagery to make better choices now. The concept of seeing our future selves as different people is introduced as a tool to manage procrastination and make better decisions.
  • The future self is any version of us at a later point in time.
  • Connecting with our future selves can benefit us now and later.
  • Thinking of our future selves as different people helps us make better choices.

Shownotes Transcript

Why creating happiness in the future starts today.

The new year gives us an opportunity to reflect on who we are and who we want to be. As we set resolutions and prepare for evolutions, this special four-part series on communication, happiness, and well-being explores practical ways to enhance our lives through better communication, deeper connections, and more meaningful choices.

In pursuing happiness and well-being, we often focus on the present moment. But according to Hal Hershfield), one of the best ways to help ourselves today is to have a conversation with ourselves in the future.

"When I say future self, I really mean any version of us that exists at some later point in time," explains Hershfield, a UCLA professor and author of Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today). By thinking of our future selves as different people — ones we should care about — we can make better choices in the present. "If we can tap into the feelings of our future selves, then we can do more that benefits them, which may make our lives easier now and later."In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart), Hershfield and host Matt Abrahams explore how communication between our present and future selves can help us set goals, make decisions, and overcome pitfalls like procrastination, enabling us to take meaningful action now so we can thrive today and tomorrow.

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/ThinkFast) and get ten percent off your first month.

Episode Reference Links:

Connect:

Chapters:

  • (00:00) - Introduction

  • (02:12) - What Is a Future Self?

  • (03:37) - Mistakes in Time Travel Thinking

  • (04:45) - Overcoming Procrastination

  • (07:16) - Connecting to Our Future Selves

  • (10:35) - Disappointment and Adjusting Goals

  • (12:14) - Goal Setting and Motivation

  • (15:02) - Public Accountability for Motivation

  • (16:04) - The Final Three Questions

  • (20:35) - Conclusion

********Become a Faster Smarter Supporter by joining TFTS Premium).

Take advantage of our Sponsor offer from BetterHelp)