future

Holy Crap. It’s 2020! Are there flying cars? Do you have a robot maid? Has the world come to an end? I guess if it had, you wouldn’t be able to tell me anyways.

Seriously though, you are pushing 35 right now which means A) you have gray hair on your head, or B) you are balding. Depressing stuff huh? I have a few matters of business that I need to discuss with you.

1) Girl Ninja:

Dude you have been married for 10 years now! Have you been honoring your wife? Loving her for her benefit and not yours? Have you told her you think she is beautiful today? If not, you have some serious business that needs to get taken care of mister. In fact, why don’t you stop reading this letter right now and call her to tell her how much you appreciate her. I assume you two have gone through some pretty major fights over the years, but I have faith that you both remain committed to love. Remember love is not a fight, but it’s something worth fighting for.

2) Kids:

Barring no major medical complications, it’s safe to assume you probably have at least 2.5 kids, hopefully all boys (only kidding…sort of). Are you sticking to your commitment to be a good dad? Does your job allow you to cut out early to catch your kids youth soccer game? If not, it’s time for you to start looking for a new job. I, meaning you, refuse to work in an industry that overtakes my family life. Do not compromise this. Ever.

3) Finances:

Do you remember that silly blog you started after you graduated college. No? You don’t? It was Punch Debt In The Face. Remember how clever you thought you were when you came up with that name? While you are most likely no longer blogging, I do hope that you have been continually growing in your knowledge of personal finance. You are debt free right? I swear if you still have that stupid Sallie Mae loan there is going to be hell to pay. More important than your individual journey through personal finance, how has the walk with Girl Ninja been? Do you sit down and talk money at least once a month? Does she know how much money you all have in savings? I hope that you have tamed your intense passion for PF and found a way to communicate finances with Girl Ninja in a way that benefits the both of you.

4) Fun:

Seriously man, you better still have a sense of humor and an excitement about life. I know as you grow older your responsibilities increase, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a good time. What have you done lately that has given you an adrenaline rush? Are you involved in things that make you smile? Remember you were voted your high school’s best sense of humor, I hope you still live up to that silly award every single day.

If you haven’t succeeded in these four areas, you have fallen short of your life goals. This letter is a reminder, that the 24 year old you, had an expectation to live a fulfilling and rewarding life. If that is not the case at the time you are reading this, you only have yourself to blame.

Sincerely,

Your much younger and better looking self

p.s. You currently weigh 180lbs, if you are tipping the 200 mark I’m gonna come cut the excess baggage off of you.

This letter was a result of yesterday’s blog post. I wasn’t the only one that wrote a letter to my future self, however. Check out these other bloggers that also participated…

Conquering Personal Finance

Broke as a Spoke

Small Steps For Big Change

Investing Newbie

Life As A Purse

Suburban Dollar

Counting Coins

Stay at Home Mom CFO

Fiscal Geek

Miss Alpha Writes

151 Days Off

My Financial Objectives

This Housewife’s Life

Deliver Away Debt

If I Were a Wealthy Girl

Make sure to check back letter today and through the rest of the week as many have expressed their intent to join in on the fun.

If you participated and I don’t have you linked above let me know and I will be sure to add you to the list 🙂

Have you ever written a letter to yourself? I’ve done it once before. It was the summer after I graduated high school and I was tasked with writing a letter to myself. I was told I would receive the letter in the mail six months later. I could write about anything I wanted. Sure enough, right around Christmas time, my letter was in the mailbox waiting for me. Here’s  a copy of that letter….

Dear Ninja,

I hope you are enjoying college in San Diego. I also hope you are playing lots of tennis and meeting a ton of sweet people, and by sweet people I mean a ton of girls. I also hope that you have at least surfed once by now. Do you miss home at all? Are you still going to church? Are you living a life that you will be proud of 20 years from now? I know that you will be making good decisions, ’cause if you aren’t I’m going to have to come hunt you down and kill you.

Much Love,

Ninja.

p.s. you are sexy

Being that I was a recent high school graduate, I thought the exercise was a little cheesy and didn’t really take it too seriously. My letter lacks true substance and direction. I jotted down a few sentences without putting much thought in to what I was writing.

Yes, my douche-baggery prevented this letter from living up to it’s full potential, but, being the mature ninja I am today (I know I’m not really that mature), I’ve decided it’s time to give this exercise a second chance.

Here’s my plan…

Tonight, I will write a letter to my 10-years-from-now future self and will post it on my blog tomorrow. My only rule is that I actually put some thought in to the letter this time.

It would be awesome if at least a few of you fellow PFers followed suit and wrote to your future selves. It’s an easy and efficient way to share with your readers, not only what is important to you today, but what you hope is important to you 10 years from now. I don’t care if you link back to my article or not. This isn’t about self promotion, it’s about taking a little time to reflect on how far we have come, and how much further we would like to go.

What do you say? Are you in? (if not I’ll feel like a total tool, but that’s okay I guess)