Mentally unstable, swayed by emotions, habits always in the same place,
If you have too many thoughts instead of goals, your sense of accomplishment is at rock bottom.
It's time to go meet my future self

To make the future on my side
I must stand on the side of the future
8 Psychological Tools to Turn Today's Resolutions into Tomorrow's Reality

There are many people who always live hard but have many regrets, and many people who have many thoughts but are unable to put them into action and blame themselves.
What should I anticipate to reduce regrets? Are there ways to make self-regulation easier? What's crucial to not missing out on what's important to me and to enhance my ability to execute?

In "I'm Going to Save My Future Self," the author, a clinical and counseling psychologist, provides various evidence to support how our interpretations of the present and the past change depending on how we think about the future.
And it links together eight psychological tools, namely future self, psychological contrast, cognitive control, habit design, interpretation level, self-efficacy expectation, mindset, and priorities, into the perspective of 'future'.
For those who carry the past like a heavy burden and have only vague and abstract worries about the future, this book guides them to feel closer and more intimate with their future selves, or "future selves," and to learn the skills of "self-regulation" more concretely and effectively.

What do people think about most? Do they primarily dwell on the past, reminiscing about good times or regretting regrets? Surprisingly, people think about the future two to three times more often than the past.
Research shows that we think about the future “on average once every 15 minutes.”

--- 「Chapter 1.
From “The Future That Has Already Arrived”

What advice would you give to those who pour too much time and energy into making choices and decisions, yet ultimately feel little satisfaction and constantly regret it? The best approach is, first, to lower your expectations about the outcome once you've made a choice.
Second, while you need to think carefully to make a good choice, it's best to avoid over-calculation and excessive effort.
Third, it is better not to think counterfactual thoughts or hypothetical thoughts like, ‘If I hadn’t done that then, things would be different now…’

--- 「Chapter 1.
From “The Future That Has Already Arrived”

Hal Hershfield, a psychologist at UCLA Anderson School of Management, took photos of the faces of study participants and created two avatars.
One is an avatar of the same age as you, with a face almost identical to yours, and the other is an old avatar from several decades in the future.
Then, the experimental participants were divided into two groups, and one group was asked to wear an immersive virtual reality device and have a conversation with an avatar that was an avatar of the present day and an avatar of an elderly person in the future.
As a result, people who interacted with their elderly avatars tended to prefer saving for the future over spending right now, and allocated more than twice as much money for retirement on average compared to those who connected with avatars of the same age.

--- Chapter 2.
How to Connect Better: From "Future Self"

Psychologists explain why it's difficult to make good choices that align with our long-term goals while keeping our future selves in mind because "we perceive our future selves as someone else, not ourselves."
Isn't that surprising? So even if I smoke now and my future self becomes unhealthy, I don't care.
Because they are strangers.
The catchphrase “I leave it to my future self” is an exquisite expression.

--- 「Chapter 2.
How to Connect Better: From "Future Self"

What's even more interesting is that practicing increased connection with your future self can strengthen your tolerance for future rewards.
As connectivity increased, people decided to save for the future rather than indulge in immediate consumption, made more ethical decisions for their future selves rather than succumbing to immediate temptations, and students performed better academically.

--- 「Chapter 2.
How to Connect Better: From "Future Self"

Goal intention is the intention toward the goal.
Intend a desired outcome state, such as 'I will achieve Z!'
On the other hand, the intention to act is to act itself in the form of 'If situation X occurs, I will do Y!'
There is when, where, what, and how, but there is no place for 'why.'
The intention to execute fundamentally excludes thoughts such as why one is doing something and what one ultimately hopes to achieve.
Even intuitively speaking, it's a very smart strategy.
For example, when we do something good, like studying or exercising, but it's bothersome or we don't want to do it, we tend to rationalize it by making up excuses not to do it.
Even though no one asks, you use all kinds of excuses to make excuses for yourself.
As you think about it, your emotions also inflate.
It increases the discomfort or unpleasantness of not wanting to do something.
(syncopation)

This phenomenon is common among many people, and it represents a common reason why we fail to achieve our goals and plans.
Goal intentions often tend not to lead to action because they only contain a desired state, such as 'I want ○○' or 'I will ○○'.
In contrast, an implementation intention already contains an action plan because it consists of two items: X (situation) and Y (action).

--- Chapter 3.
From "Making Your Wishes Real: Psychological Contrast"

Over the past ten days, the person has successfully trained his cognitive control to eat a low-calorie meal without being distracted by the forbidden snacks.
But then suddenly, a sudden incident called stress occurred.
From our body's perspective, relieving stress or alleviating negative emotions becomes a more urgent task than losing weight at that moment.
The priorities have changed.
So, we chose the comfort of chicken as an immediate reward and saved the cost of cognitive control.
Of course, the confidence that I had successfully dieted for the past ten days probably played a part in disarming me.
He had faith that this deviation would not break his own rules.
As expected, the man was able to resume his diet as he had predicted.
From this perspective, the experience of self-regulation is interpreted in various ways, not as a simple black-and-white logic of success or failure, but as a choice based on values.
--- Chapter 4.
Thought and Effort Are Expensive: From “Cognitive Control”

In other words, the argument is that it should not be viewed as a simple matter of enduring or overcoming short-term desires, but rather as a “negotiation between inner selves.”
It should be understood as a process of 'choosing' the former when there is a conflict between an action that is consistent with the focal goal and an alternative that is inconsistent with it.
We integrate various benefits (e.g., money, social status, recognition and praise from others) and costs (e.g., effort, opportunity cost) to convert the objective value of each option into subjective value, making the choice that is most valuable to us.
In this way, decisions and actions are made through a dynamic, integrated process of choosing according to one's values ​​and allocating resources, such as effort, to the choices made.
Everyone adapts to the best of their ability by making optimal choices within limited circumstances.

--- Chapter 4.
Thought and Effort Are Expensive: From “Cognitive Control”

There is a lot of information about habits, but surprisingly few people are able to control their habits.
It is rare for someone to abandon unfavorable habits and adopt beneficial ones.
Is it a lack of will? Or a lack of intelligence? To cut to the chase, it's a design flaw.
Changing habits is not difficult at all if you understand the principles well and design them precisely to suit you.
It just takes some time.
If you lack 'self-understanding', it is difficult to change your habits.
Let's take a look at why.

--- 「Chapter 5.
From "Designing Habits: Making It Happen Automatically"

Whenever I try to exercise or diet, there is one thing that is the biggest obstacle.
It's 'missing once or twice'.
(syncopation)

The study found that missing a day or two had no real impact on the habit formation process.
Forming healthy habits requires repetition, but missing a day or two won't hinder the process.
However, if you let go of something for more than a week, you'll be less likely to do it again, which can interfere with habit formation.
Therefore, even if you have no choice but to skip a day or two, it is important not to give up and to get back on track before the gap becomes too long.

--- 「Chapter 5.
From "Designing Habits: Making It Happen Automatically"

When we think about actions in the distant future, we think about them with a focus on values, while when we think about actions in the near future, we think about them with a focus on feasibility (practicality).
What's interesting is that simply changing the level of interpretation has the effect of changing the psychological distance.
Even if it's not necessarily a distant future, when people are guided to a high-level, abstract interpretation of a situation, they are more likely to think in terms of "value" and "purpose." Conversely, when guided to a low-level, concrete interpretation, they are more likely to think in terms of feasibility or validity.

--- Chapter 6.
From "The Secret to Better Decisions, Better Choices: Interpretation Levels"

From the team leader's perspective, this team member just appears to be an immature person who just wants to be 'patted'.
On the other hand, from the team members' perspective, the team leader may be perceived as overly strict and lacking in tolerance.


Of course, there are differences in opinion and experience between the team leader and team members, but what we should pay attention to here is the level of interpretation.
The level of interpretation can also influence our expectations or inferences about other people's behavior.
Higher-level interpreters tend to infer and respond to others' behavior with an eye toward abstract, long-term goals behind it, whereas lower-level interpreters tend to simply attribute the behavior to the other person.
If we keep in mind that different levels of interpretation influence how we interpret actions or situations, we will be able to understand and judge them more thoroughly, including the context.

--- Chapter 6.
From "The Secret to Better Decisions, Better Choices: Interpretation Levels"

It's not a vague or temporary feeling that you'll do well.
It's not even about having the confidence that you can do everything well.
It is the perception of one's ability or skill to accomplish a task under certain conditions.
It's not a belief that I'm 'good' at something, but a belief that I 'can' do it well, and it includes knowing what actions are necessary to do it well.
People with high self-efficacy expectations are known to have many good habits that are beneficial to their health and to perform well in school and at work.
They also have a strong ability to recover from trials and failures and a high ability to cope with stress.

--- Chapter 7.
How is belief in myself created? From “Self-efficacy expectations”

Self-efficacy expectations of people trying to quit smoking may vary depending on who they are and where they are.
In situations where you are exposed to cigarettes, such as when you meet friends who used to smoke and drink together, your self-efficacy expectations naturally decrease.
It would be difficult to evaluate self-efficacy expectations as low based on this alone.
You need to understand the full spectrum, from situations that are relatively easy to handle to situations that are very difficult.
--- Chapter 7.
How is belief in myself created? From “Self-efficacy expectations”

In a word, mindset is a matter of 'how to accept and interpret the discomfort caused by difficulties.'
If you feel threatened (fixed mindset), mistakes or failures may be perceived as negative consequences and you may give up on your goals.
On the other hand, if you view it as an opportunity for learning and growth (growth mindset), you will see trial and error as a necessary part of the long journey toward your goal.
Therefore, a growth mindset is much more advantageous for learning and developing as you gain new experiences.
--- Chapter 8.
How to make the most of failures and mistakes: From “Mindset”

You need to organize your priorities and what values ​​you pursue in order to set appropriate goals.
For example, people who pursue the realistic value of individual focus tend to be sensitive to the ambiguity and irrationality of responsibility that arise from collectivism.
I hate ambiguous, roundabout speech or opaque decision-making due to internal politics.
This type values ​​fair procedures and clear compensation, and is suited to working in conditions where they can clearly define where they begin and end their work.
Meanwhile, those who pursue the ideal value of relationship focus need to set goals that are geared toward growing together with others to be motivated.
If you're constantly calculating or analyzing things on your own, it's hard to find meaning.

--- Chapter 9.
From “Direction and Standards of Self-Regulation: Priorities”

The future is not separate.
Because part of us already lives in the future.
My past and future selves exist for me in the present.
The future is now.
Because what you think now will predict the future, and what you do now will become the future.
If your future depended on what you see now, what would you see? Every day is an opportunity.
It is an opportunity given to us to deeply understand the past, create a better future, and cultivate ourselves.

--- From "Epilogue"