Wait! What?
Yes, you heard right. I wrote a love letter to be delivered to me at some point in the future acknowledging my achievements, lessons, and letting my future self know how much I love, admire, and appreciate her.
Here’s why:
1. To reinforce my self-love and help me acknowledge how supercalifragilisticexpialidocious I am.
2. To keep me accountable to myself by ensuring those things I document get done in that time frame.
3. To measure my progress and applaud myself for all my accomplishments during that period – in spite of all the sh*t I’ve gone through.
“If you aren’t good at loving yourself, don’t expect anyone else to be good at loving you. You set the tone!” Katherine Goldman
If you take one look at your life, you will see you have a lot to be grateful for. But you also likely have some areas that you would like to improve. And thankfully, you can improve those areas. Just make a note of them and devise a plan to change them to the way you want. And by now you probably know that setting goals is a great way to begin the process of creating the change you want to see in your life.
As you pursue those goals you will at times need a picker upper, you know, a reason to continue. So what can you do to lift yourself up as you go through the stages of pursuing those goals?
One of the most creative ways to manifest your big goals is to write them down in the form of a love letter. Not to your romantic partner this time – to YOU. Write a love letter to the future, more successful you and then email it to yourself at some point in the future. As I outlined above, it will give you that push to continue when you know you’ve already document it, and cannot disappoint yourself. I promise that this process will motivate you for months to come!
Here’s what you do:
Step #1: Write an Inspiring Love Letter to Your Future Self – Begin by whipping out your journal and your favorite pen. Put your cell phone on silent, close your laptop, and take about 30 minutes to write an inspiring letter about how your life will be improved in the next 12 months. By writing your goals down in the form of a letter, it will give you a simple framework for this exercise. It might feel weird at first, but just trust the process and keep going!
To give you some structure, you can use the outline below for your letter that addresses the 8 keys areas of your life based on our Lifestyle Designing Workbook here at My Blooming Biz International. Or, you can just freestyle your own!
Dear [your name],
Congratulations on all the progress you’ve made so far!
Now you have even more to be grateful for in each area of your life, including:
Family & Friends: You love . . .
Health & Wellness: You love . . .
Love & Romance: You love . . .
Career & Business: You love . . .
Money & Finance: You love . . .
Personal Growth & Development: You love . . .
Housing & Accommodation: You love . . .
Geographic Location & Community: You love . . .
Your life is so much better now and it’s all because of your hard work and dedication.
Keep it up!
Love,
[your name]
Step #2: Schedule Your Letter to Be Emailed to You 12 Months From Now – Now go ahead and type or paste your letter into futureme.org, a site that allows you to write a letter to be emailed to yourself at a later date. Make sure your letter is scheduled to be sent to you exactly 12 months from now. This is why I love technology!
I also wanted to be transparent with my own personal growth process and model this exercise for you by sharing my own letter below. Feel free to use my example to help you write your letter. For my letter, I chose to send it to the future me exactly 12 months from now – August 1, 2018.
Katherine’s Love Letter:
Dear Katherine,
Congratulations on all the progress you’ve made in the past year!
Now you have even more to be grateful for in each area of your life.
You love that you have relocated to Austria, with a condo in Vienna and your favorite car to take you from one end of the city to the other – and all the beaches in between. You love being able to enjoy the loving energy of Austria and the cheerful spirit of the people that lives there.
You love that you have attracted a fun, romantic, supportive and adventurous partner to share your journey with. You love the life you are creating together and you are excited about the love that is growing between you!
You love that your amazing body is in great shape, and you are aging gracefully. You love how you still look awesome in your bathing suit and how your partner admires, adores and compliments you. You love how you are eating healthier, and taking care of your body – internally as well as externally. You love it that you continue to get a clean bill of health from your doctor.
You love that you are now closer to your best friend and able to stay connected with your family as well. You love that you have been able to “make the rounds” and catch up with your grandmother, sister, brother and cousins as their lives are changing and evolving.
You love that you have continued to live debt free! And have maintained a perfect 800 credit score. You love having an ongoing travel fund that has allowed you to spend several months around the globe such as Europe, France, Italy and Spain – indulging in the incredible foods, cultures and everything they have to offer.
You love that your business is helping thousands of women all over the world. You love being a part of the leadership of a wonderful community that is having a ripple effect on others. You love hearing about all the people who have used your work to change their lives – including your new book, training courses and coaching programs.
You love that you have prioritized the next stage of your personal transformation, met some amazing trailblazers on your bucket list, and have the opportunity of a lifetime to continue to connect with them. You love the way you keep showing up for yourself and for your purpose, even when it feels uncomfortable and scary.
You love how you have been able to ask for and receive guidance and support from the coaches and mentors in your life who are committed to helping you become the highest version of yourself.
You love the woman you are becoming because she is more courageous, confident and self-aware than ever before. You love the way you are strengthening your spirituality and experiencing more peace and freedom in your life and relationships.
Your life is much better now and it’s all because of your hard work and dedication.
You are beautiful. You are powerful. You are loved.
Most importantly, you are inspiring so many people by the way you live your life.
I am so proud of you, Ms. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious 🙂
Love,
Katherine
Note: This exercise is Day 8 of our popular personal development program, 28 Days to Reset, Recharge, Reposition, and Reclaim Your Life. If you’re ready to get unstuck and finally start living the life you really want and truly deserve, click here to get started now.
Now, I’d love to read YOUR love letter…
Go ahead and post your letter (or an excerpt) as a comment below. When you share your letter, it could give other women in our community the inspiration to write theirs too!
Love & Light,
Katherine Goldman is a Cognitive Psychologist and Behavioral Mentor attaining her doctoral credentials from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has used her psychological training over the years to impact thousands of women and young adults, and have since added coaching to her repertoire of skills. Katherine recently joined our team as a Life Coach here at My Blooming Biz International where she is helping women overcome obstacles and reclaim their lives. When Katherine is not busy changing women’s lives, you can find her trekking to one of her favorite places around the globe, spending quality time with her family and friends, or in her kitchen cooking up a storm.
OMG! I Love This!!! Katherine this is a grand idea 😋 Thanks for sharing. I’m definitely gonna try it right now! And yes you are supercalifragilisticexpialidocious💃
Thanks Janice! It really is a kind gesture to one’s self, and it works with motivation as well as a sense of accountability. Yes, go ahead and try it Jan 🙂 and let us know how it helped you.
Katherine, this is giving me a lot to think about, and I think I should go ahead and try it. Never heard anything like this before, let alone a website that caters to it. Amazing! Nice share 🙂
Hi Gillian, yes please go ahead and try it, it can only help! Yes, a website for this proving there is nothing new under the sun 🙂
Very interesting! Guess you can never love yourself too much. Anything for motivation and accountability.
Not at all John! Self-love is number 1 and cannot be too much. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
This is awesome! And I love your love letter Katherine 🙂 #SelfLove first for real.
Thanks Julie! You should try it.
Kudos Katherine 🙂 sounds like you are planning an even more amazing life than you are already enjoying. I hope everything goes as planned. You’re gonna love Austria! It’s beautiful and cozy over there! Thanks for sharing this wonderful idea, and such a huge chunk of yourself!
Yes, I am and I pray all go as planned 🙂 Yes, Austria is beautiful and the people warm, so I’m really excited. Thanks for stopping by Haley 🙂 and the well wishes!
Katherine this is a great concept! I can definitely see how it could be a huge motivator and confidence builder. Who woulda thunk of such a thang? Thanks for sharing it with us, and I wish you well with all your endeavors 🙂
Thanks Kadienne 🙂 Just another out-of-the-box way of reinforcing #selflove.
Loving that spin you put on loving yourself. I can see this being a motivator as well as an accountability partner. LOL! I’m going to give it a try 🤔
Hey Madison 🙂 Yes, go ahead and try it. Get some extra motivation and accountability on! I’m sure it’ll help not hinder you. Thanks for stopping by!
Oooooowww! I love your love letter Katherine 🙂 So entailed and beautiful. I know you will accomplish your goals and I do wish you all the very best. I think I should give it a try as well. I already have a few goals I’m working on, and your layout should do just fine. Thanks Katherine!
Hey Carol 🙂 thanks! Yes, go ahead and try it. I’m sure it will help – not hurt you. It’s something I do from time to time for about 5 years now and I continue because it helps immensely with #selflove which I struggled with in my earlier years as well as some well needed motivation and accountability. Thanks for the well wishes!
Katherine, are you saying I do not have to wait to get a love letter from my partner I can write one for myself? 🤔😍 I got you girl!!! I totally agree, and I’m all in! Another form of #selflove and a very unique way of keeping ourselves accountable. Love it!
Yes Eugénie, I absolutely am 🙂 In addition to making me accountable to myself, it’s a very beautiful #selflove gesture.