Letter to Future Self Template Overview
A letter to your future self is a note you write today and read months or years from now. Writing it can help you get clear on what matters to you and what you hope for. Research by psychologist Hal Hershfield, who studies how people think about the person they will become, helps explain why it can be useful.
This template helps you pick a date to open the letter and gives you prompts for what to tell your future self and what to ask. It also has space to write the letter and to reflect when you open it.
In this worksheet, we’ll:
- Help you choose when you will open your letter
- Explain why writing to your future self can help you feel more connected to that person
- Give you prompts for what to share and questions to ask your future self
- Provide space to write your letter
- Help you reflect on what has changed when you open it
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Hershfield, H. E. (2011). Future self-continuity: How conceptions of the future self transform intertemporal choice. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1235, 30-43.
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Ersner-Hershfield, H., Garton, M. T., Ballard, K., Samanez-Larkin, G. R., & Knutson, B. (2009). Don't stop thinking about tomorrow: Individual differences in future self-continuity account for saving. Judgment and Decision Making, 4(4), 280-286.
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Chishima, Y., & Wilson, A. E. (2021). Conversation with a future self: A letter-exchange exercise enhances student self-continuity, career planning, and academic thinking. Self and Identity, 20(5), 646-671.
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