What does FUTURE YOU want?

Earlier I was watching yet another youtube video... of someone cleaning their house... while mine is still a mess... and I'm not doing anything about it. The youtuber mentioned a motto that she was telling herself to get herself to do all her own cleaning:

"Laundry today or Naked tomorrow?" -Kathryn / Do It On a Dime

This struck a chord deep within me! This is my problem and probably many other moms' too!

You hear about delayed gratification and about not procrastinating... but I got motivated by the thought of pleasing FUTURE ME rather than just not pleasing myself!

I have had lots of times that I wish PAST ME would have done this or that or at least started it because I'd be so much further along now if she had... well, TODAY ME is the PAST ME for my FUTURE ME! I actually have the ability to make PAST ME do what I want!

Thinking of pleasing FUTURE ME is so much more motivating than "This is good for me" or even "I want to teach my kids to do this".
So armed with this knowledge:

What would make FUTURE ME happy?

• Doing these dishes instead of leaving them here another day?
• Soaking some dishes even if I don't actually wash them so it's easier tomorrow?
• Putting this random little thing away?
• Setting out baskets at the stairs for easily transporting things that go somewhere else (like I've been meaning to do for months)?
• Setting out dishes for dinner even though it's not for a couple hours still?
• Oh, yeah, and mastering a second language like I've always wanted to do!
• Stopping a bad habit, so FUTURE ME doesn't have to deal with it!

I really ran down this rabbit hole and realized that there's actual multiple FUTURE MEs... For one of them, I would bake a whole lot more often... so I can eat most of those baked goods of course! For another in a more distant future, I would not bake more because the results of all that dessert aren't so good.

I also realized that pleasing FUTURE ME does not mean I have to be busy being productive all the time either... FUTURE ME will appreciate if I get good sleep tonight and spend quality time with friends and family, because we will be even closer later. FUTURE ME will also benefit from TODAY ME taking breaks and enjoying a movie or game night now and then. That's where the key is!

FUTURE ME cares a lot more about balance than TODAY ME does. 

I struggle with extremes: one day, I am super motivated and do all the things and completely wear myself out and the next day, I pat myself on the back for being so productive before and feel I deserve to veg... all day!

Anyway, hopefully this was helpful and stated clearly... I have been thinking about this most of the day and I am so excited about this concept that I had to share it!
-> Now go do something that will make FUTURE YOU proud!