Today we welcome Hal Hershfield to the podcast. Hal is a Professor of Marketing, Behavioral Decision Making, and Psychology at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. The recipient of numerous teaching awards, Hal was named one of “The 40 Most Outstanding B-School Profs Under 40 In The World” by business education website Poets & Quants. He publishes in top academic journals and also contributes op-eds to the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal, and other outlets.  His latest book is called Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today.

In this episode I talk to Hal Hershfield about meeting your future self. Decisions are trade-offs between the present and the future. Oftentimes, it's easier to choose what feels gratifying now, than to choose what's more beneficial in the years to come. Hal believes this is because we feel disconnected to our future selves. Hal shows us the mental mistakes we commit when thinking about the future. He shares with us how to visualize who we want to become, so we can make choices that are better for us now and later. 

Website: www.halhershfield.com

Twitter: @HalHershfield

Topics

03:21 Hal’s expertise and background

05:40 Your Future Self

13:12 How much do we change over time?

17:25 Mental mistakes when thinking about the future 

24:20 Productive prospection 

28:48 Why do we fail in our long-term goals?

34:33 Time travel mistakes

40:35 Visualizing your future self

42:53 Making present sacrifices feel easier

45:42 How to get people to follow through 

47:37 The future selves of organizations

50:17 Facing an uncertain future 

54:03 The collective self

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