The Memory Explanation

As you move through time, you exist as a present self who makes decisions, an in-between self who should carry out those decisions, and a future self who will benefit from those decisions. Yet as we all know, in-between self often fails to follow through on what present self resolves, leaving future self pretty bummed out.

The solution to this dilemma, my guest says, is for your present self to become much better friends with your future self.

His name is Hal Hershfield, and he's a professor of marketing, behavioral decision making, and psychology, and the author of Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today. Hal and I spend the first part of our conversation taking a really interesting philosophical dive into what the self even is. We talk about why our future self can feel like a stranger, why it's hard to know what he'll be like, and what this dilemma has to do with becoming a vampire. We then discuss how building a stronger connection with your future self makes your present self more willing to help him, and how you can become closer to your future self by engaging in mental time traveling. Hal shares a couple techniques that can facilitate this mental time travel, three mistakes people make in taking this cognitive trip, and how to start making tomorrow better today.

Resources Related to the Podcast

• "The Self Is Moral" by Nina Strohminger
• Transformative Experience by L. A. Paul
• Yuta Chishima and Anne Wilson on writing a letter to and from your future self
• The End-of-History Illusion
• stickK.com
• AoM Podcast #731: A Futurist’s Guide to Building the Life You Want

Connect With Hal Hershfield

• Hal's Website