FUTURE YOU
On this episode of The Karen Kenney Show, I'm diving into the concept of "Future You” - and how the choices you're making right now are setting up your future self for success or struggle.
I break down this super practical idea of reverse engineering your dreams by asking one key question: Are the decisions you're making today something future you will be grateful for?
Whether it's fitness, career, relationships, or personal growth, I challenge listeners to visualize their ideal future self and then work backwards to figure out what small steps they need to take right now.
Think of your choices like writing a love letter to the version of you that's coming down the pike! 😆
We also talk about how easy it is to get caught up in ego-driven, short-term thinking that sabotages our long-term goals.
I share strategies for quieting that loud inner critic and tuning into your deeper wisdom.
With things like developing a Daily Spiritual Practice (DSP) and being wicked honest about whether your current habits are truly serving you or not doing you any favors.
The big takeaway?
Stop writing checks that future you can't or won’t want to cash.
You have the power right now to make choices that soon-to-be versions of you will thank you for later.
Start investing in yourself, take those small consistent steps, and remember: you don't have to do this all alone!
There are books, resources, mentors, coaches, and communities who are ready to support you in becoming the truest version of yourself!
KK’S KEY TAKEAWAYS:
• Ask yourself: "Will future me be grateful for the choices I'm making right now?"
• Reverse engineer your goals by visualizing your ideal future self and working backwards.
• Small, consistent steps can be super powerful.
• Your current habits and choices are writing the script for future you's life.
• The ego's shrieking voice can drown out your inner wisdom - develop practices to quiet it.
• Not every "sacrifice" is truly a sacrifice; sometimes it's an investment in yourself.
• We only have limited time on this planet, so let’s make choices that truly matter.
• You don't have to navigate life's challenges alone - seek mentors, coaches, and support.
• Alignment is key: ensure your actions match the goals and dreams you have for yourself.
• Even if you've made mistakes in the past, you can always start making better choices right now!
• Imagine the future you looking back and being proud of the decisions you're making today.
BIO:
Spiritual mentor and writer Karen Kenney uses humor and dynamic storytelling to bring a down-to-earth, no-BS perspective to self-development.
Bringing together tools that coach the conscious and unconscious mind, Karen helps clients deepen their connections with Self, and discover their unique understandings of spirituality.
Her practice combines neuroscience, subconscious reprogramming, Integrative Hypnosis, somatics, spiritual mentoring, and other holistic modalities to help regulate the nervous system, examine internal narratives, remove blocks, and reimagine what’s possible.
A passionate yoga teacher, long-time student of A Course in Miracles, and Gateless Writing instructor, Karen is a frequent speaker and retreat leader. Via her programs The Quest and The Nest, she coaches individuals and groups.
With The Karen Kenney Podcast, she encourages listeners to shift from a thought system of fear to one of love, compassion, and personal responsibility.
CONNECT WITH KAREN:
Website: http://karenkenney.com
Podcast: https://www.karenkenney.com/podcast
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karenkenneylive/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenkenneylive/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KarenKenney
Transcript
Hey, welcome to the Karen Kenney show. I'm super duper excited to
Speaker:be here with you today, and we're just gonna dive right into
Speaker:this sucker so I'm calling this episode future you. Future you
Speaker:like your future self. We're gonna this is like a little love
Speaker:letter. We're like, setting your future self up for something
Speaker:better, something good, something extra nice, you know
Speaker:what I mean? Okay, so every once in a while, right? Every once in
Speaker:a while, I will jokingly say, Today me, today me would like a
Speaker:logic complaint with like yesterday me especially,
Speaker:especially after I've done like leg day, like lifting heavy on
Speaker:legs, or, you know, ran extra fat or did much stuff, and then
Speaker:my physical body is paying for the choices of yesterday me. So
Speaker:sometimes I'll say, Hey, today me wants to file a complaint
Speaker:with yesterday me. And then also, sometimes I will say
Speaker:things like, Hey, today me wants to thank younger me for being so
Speaker:fucking resilient. Or today me wants to thank younger me for,
Speaker:like, really sticking it out, or taking that program or making
Speaker:that decision, or, like, you know, getting that training, or
Speaker:starting yoga or stopping smoking, or, like, whatever the
Speaker:thing is, like, it's really nice sometimes to look back and
Speaker:appreciate the younger versions of yourself, and we talk about
Speaker:that a lot on this show. But today I want to talk about your
Speaker:future self, this future version of you, the you that is yet to
Speaker:happen, right? The you that is coming on down the pike. And the
Speaker:thing is, is that, and this is going to be a very simple
Speaker:episode, it's just a couple of questions I want us to ponder.
Speaker:And it's this, here's the question, is, what you are doing
Speaker:and choosing right now, is it gonna be something that future
Speaker:you is gonna want to thank you for
Speaker:the people and the things that you are doing right now, that
Speaker:You are hanging out with, spending time with, in
Speaker:relationship with, is the job that you're doing right now, is
Speaker:that piece of cake that you're about to put in your mouth right
Speaker:now? Like, whatever the thing is, because, you know, sometimes
Speaker:today us is writing checks that future us, like, it's like,
Speaker:like, can't cash. It's like, is your ass right now writing
Speaker:checks at future you can't cash that. They're gonna have to pay
Speaker:the consequences of you being yourself right now. And I think
Speaker:it can be really, really helpful to, like, reverse engineer this,
Speaker:because you know how in like, 12 step programs or recovery
Speaker:programs, they'll say, you can't build a better past, right? And
Speaker:that's just facts. It's like, what happened has happened. And
Speaker:of course, in miracles, we say something kind of same z's. We
Speaker:say same z is different, right? We say that the past is gone. It
Speaker:can touch me, not. The past is not here. It can touch me, not.
Speaker:So what's happened has happened. There's no going back. I always
Speaker:say healing doesn't happen in the past. It happens. It happens
Speaker:here, right? It can happen here. It can happen with future
Speaker:versions of ourselves, but there's no going back in making
Speaker:that show or whatever happened, that trauma, that drama, that
Speaker:whatever better it is, what it is, but what we choose to do
Speaker:right now can benefit us. It can benefit now us, but it can
Speaker:certainly benefit future us. So to kind of reverse engineer it,
Speaker:what I'll do sometimes, especially when I'm feeling
Speaker:resistance, especially when I'm getting a little whiny, or a
Speaker:little like, man, don't feel like it, I'll ask myself, is
Speaker:future me going to be grateful that I did this thing right now
Speaker:or today, right is it? Am I going to see the choice that I'm
Speaker:making right now through a lens of gratitude? Is it going to
Speaker:feel like a gift? Am I going to be really grateful that I did
Speaker:this thing and I look at future me, and I say, okay, future me
Speaker:is this. I'll just give an example. I'd be like, okay,
Speaker:future me this dream that I have of my future self, that I'm
Speaker:going to be like a published author, a successful author,
Speaker:right? New York Times, best selling whatever, okay, just a
Speaker:little dream or whatever. And then I'm like, Well, I have to
Speaker:ask myself if that is my goal, and your goal could be anything
Speaker:like, hey, I want to put more muscle on my body, or I want to
Speaker:be somebody who commits to going to the gym or learning to play
Speaker:an instrument, or, like, whatever the thing is, whatever.
Speaker:Future self that you envision, that you dream of, that you
Speaker:want, and then you reverse engineer it, and you say, Okay,
Speaker:well, what, what does right now me have to do in order for that
Speaker:version of me, of my future self, of my future, you, your
Speaker:future, you, you know, what are some of the choices and habits
Speaker:that they need to be committing to, like right now. And is this
Speaker:thing you know, here's here's another question you can ask
Speaker:yourself, are the choices and the decisions and the
Speaker:investments of time, energy, money, whatever attention right
Speaker:are the commitments and the relationships and the sacrifices
Speaker:that you're making today, are they going to benefit future you
Speaker:now? You probably can't justify, like, oh yeah. Like, me getting
Speaker:shit faced on I don't drink, but like, you know what I mean? Like
Speaker:getting shit faced at one o'clock every night. I don't
Speaker:think future you is going to benefit from that. You know, not
Speaker:getting enough rest day after day, night after night after
Speaker:night after night. I don't think future you is probably going to
Speaker:benefit from that, right? Etc, etc. Go down the line and rather
Speaker:than sitting in it and beating ourselves up and feeling like,
Speaker:Oh my God, I've already blown it. I'm like, No, you can pump
Speaker:the brakes right now. You can stop right now and make a
Speaker:different choice right now, like you right now, could be making
Speaker:some really fantastic new decisions, habits, whatever,
Speaker:right that are going to benefit future you, and we have to think
Speaker:about getting in alignment. Remember, the assignment is
Speaker:alignment. Is there a congruency between what I say, that I want,
Speaker:what I who I say I want to be like, how I want to be showing
Speaker:up in the world, with the choices and the decisions that
Speaker:I'm making right now? Because it's really easy to keep putting
Speaker:things off, to keep saying, Oh, I'll do it tomorrow, or Oh,
Speaker:blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but you want to live not based
Speaker:on, you know who you were, because that's not going to be
Speaker:super duper helpful, not just who you are, right now, if we
Speaker:can be visual, like, visualize future you I mean, don't do this
Speaker:if you're Driving right? But like, if you're at home in a
Speaker:safe place, can even, like, after you hear the instructions,
Speaker:it's like, hit pause, right? But just close your eyes and see in
Speaker:your mind's eye, imagine there's a big movie screen, right? And
Speaker:if you can't visualize, you can imagine, we all have
Speaker:imaginations. You can be creative. If you're more
Speaker:analytical, maybe you do it on a piece of paper or whatever the
Speaker:thing is, right? But imagine, or visualize, pretend, in your
Speaker:mind, there's a movie screen, and on that movie screen, you
Speaker:see this future you that you have dreamed about, that you
Speaker:envision, that you want to be like, right? And whether that's
Speaker:successful, or you're a mom, or you're you have a beautiful
Speaker:partner, or you now have a dog, or like I wanna, like I said I
Speaker:wanna lose weight, gain weight, get stronger, write a book,
Speaker:learn an instrument, start a business, whatever the thing is,
Speaker:and try to envision that. You try to see them, see where they
Speaker:are, see what they're wearing, right? Try to put yourself like,
Speaker:imagine. What are they hearing? What are they thinking? What are
Speaker:the kind of things that they're doing? Who are they hanging out
Speaker:with? Are they reading books? Are they taking classes like,
Speaker:what? Try to really envision this person and then reverse
Speaker:engineer it and say, what are some of the things that I would
Speaker:need to do now. Is there a particular skill set I would
Speaker:need to learn? Are there some relationships and connections I
Speaker:would need to make? Are there some habits I would start to
Speaker:have to, like, build, you know, are there some things that I
Speaker:would need to do now to benefit future me? Right? Because if we
Speaker:what's the old saying, If you keep doing what you've always
Speaker:done right, you're going to keep getting what you always got. And
Speaker:if we want to have a different experience in the future, then
Speaker:we've got to cut the shit right now. Like now is the time. Like
Speaker:now is the time. And even if you've blown it in the past,
Speaker:present, you right now, you can still get it right for future
Speaker:you. So we don't have to just throw up our hands and say, Oh
Speaker:my God, I've blown it, and poor me and I can't do it. It's like
Speaker:no some future version of you will benefit from what in who
Speaker:you are being right now, the choices that you make, the
Speaker:commitments that you make, the relationships that you build
Speaker:right, the trust that you build, whatever the thing is, the
Speaker:habits and the patterns that new neural network in your brain by
Speaker:choosing differently, choosing new, okay, it's very, very
Speaker:powerful, and so often, you know, I'm. All for being in the
Speaker:present moment, right? Because the past is what it is. There's
Speaker:no changing it. The future is what it is. But here's the
Speaker:thing, we can make choices now that can affect and inform and
Speaker:influence and inspire the future. We can't go back and
Speaker:build something different. But you right now, you do have
Speaker:autonomy and agency and authorship about some of the
Speaker:things that can go down. Now, I know we can't control everything
Speaker:that happens in the world, but at least we can set our
Speaker:attention on what we want. We can set our intention on what we
Speaker:want. And so sometimes we got to look forward and we say, okay, I
Speaker:envision this now. What are some of the things the small what's
Speaker:the next smallest right step that you can make today that is
Speaker:going to move you in the direction of that version of
Speaker:future you and so often we just get so overwhelmed, but
Speaker:surviving like right now, and that's why I said the next
Speaker:smallest, tiniest, like right step that you can move in the
Speaker:direction of that. What's something that your future self
Speaker:is going to be grateful for that you today did. And if I'm
Speaker:somebody who wants to have a book, that means I have to sit
Speaker:down and write, right? I gotta sit my ass in the chair, as
Speaker:Steven Pressfield says, Put your ass where your hat wants to be.
Speaker:Put your ass where your hat wants to be. Do I have that book
Speaker:right next to me? Do I have it right here? Do I have it? Oh,
Speaker:nope, but it's right there. I can see it over there. All
Speaker:right, put your ass where your heart wants to be
Speaker:so that means you gotta do right now, get your butt in the chair,
Speaker:or get your butt to the gym, or get your butt signed up for like
Speaker:a mentor, or hire a coach, or do the things now that are going to
Speaker:benefit. I mean, right now, you will also benefit from many of
Speaker:these things, but it might take a little time, but we don't want
Speaker:to have future. You, you know, being like, kind of bummed at
Speaker:today. You know what I'm saying? It's like, uh, and if you've
Speaker:ever uttered this, oh, my god. Why did I do that? What was I
Speaker:thinking? What I often say to people is you weren't thinking.
Speaker:You weren't thinking at all. You were not thinking. You were not
Speaker:in your right mind. You were not having a conversation with the
Speaker:smarty pants part of yourself, right? And whether you call that
Speaker:spirit Holy Spirit, internal teacher, your intuition, your
Speaker:instinct, you were not listening to that. You were listening to
Speaker:the fucking chatter of the ego mind that wants what it wants
Speaker:when it wants it, and it just wants it now because it deserves
Speaker:it, and it's got reasons and it's got excuses, right? No, no,
Speaker:we gotta listen to that other pot. And sometimes we can't hear
Speaker:that voice of the other pot, of the pot of the internal teacher,
Speaker:because in miracles, they call it like the raucous, like the
Speaker:screams. It is like the the obnoxious screams of the ego,
Speaker:right? That's my word. It's like the shrieks. They call it the
Speaker:shrieks. The shrieking of the ego is so loud. So we need some
Speaker:we need some tools, man, we need some DSP. We need a daily
Speaker:spiritual practice. It's going to help dial down the volume of
Speaker:that insistent, whiny, critical pain in the ass, that little
Speaker:bastard of an ego, so we can hear the voice for love, so we
Speaker:can hear that voice that is actually, you know, rooting for
Speaker:us and sees who we really are and wants us to succeed. So
Speaker:don't have today you be writing checks that future you you like
Speaker:the you know can't cash like let's really take a gander. Take
Speaker:a little look, see. And then the assignment is alignment. Can I
Speaker:get in congruence with what I say I want? Is it matching what
Speaker:I'm actually choosing to do right now. And sometimes the
Speaker:things that we want, they do require you. I you know, and
Speaker:sacrifice is a funny word. It's like so you might be what
Speaker:sacrificing, going out and having a good time and drinking
Speaker:or doing whatever, because you got to stay home and focus on,
Speaker:you know, your business or your book or your project, or the
Speaker:skill set that you're learning, or whatever it is that to me, is
Speaker:it like a fair trade? Is it a sacrifice? I don't know, you're
Speaker:getting something else instead of the The Hangover, or you're
Speaker:getting this instead of spending all that money or whatever,
Speaker:right? And this can show up, like, across the board, like,
Speaker:let's say with credit cards, right? Here's an example. It's
Speaker:wicked easy to just go make a purchase that you can't really
Speaker:afford on plastic, on credit, because the pain isn't there,
Speaker:right? The pain isn't there. You just think, like, oh, yeah, I'm
Speaker:gonna do it. And you get that dopamine hitter. You get that
Speaker:rush of excitement, that momentary, like, chemical
Speaker:cocktail releases in your. Body, and you get so excited, but
Speaker:you're not thinking about the bill that's coming 30 days from
Speaker:now. You're not thinking about all the work that future you,
Speaker:right and and it's really easy, because with credit cards, it
Speaker:doesn't feel real, but future you is going to have to pay for
Speaker:the patterns and the habits and the choices of you right now,
Speaker:and it's like, oh, is this thing I'm about to do right now? Is it
Speaker:truly going to benefit me? Am I going to be happy that this is
Speaker:the choice that I made? You know what I mean? So we gotta get
Speaker:real with ourselves. We gotta make things a little more real.
Speaker:And we also have to understand we only have so much time on
Speaker:this planet. We don't know when the last exhale is coming. So
Speaker:why make it harder for future you you know it's like you're
Speaker:about to like, like, I said, maybe it's like, and bodily
Speaker:things are just easy if you're not getting enough rest, if
Speaker:you're not putting good, nutritious food in your body, if
Speaker:you're not moving your body, if you're not exercising or doing
Speaker:things that benefit your heart, right? That benefit your brain,
Speaker:that benefit your organs, your muscles, whatever it's like. We
Speaker:have to ask myself, is the toll that I'm paying, right? Is that
Speaker:toll that's coming up, down the line? You know when you're
Speaker:driving on 93 right? You're driving on 93 north or south,
Speaker:that toll booth. You know that toll booth is coming, and at
Speaker:some point, if you're trying to get where you gotta go, you're
Speaker:gonna have to pay a toll. I'd rather pay the toll now, so it's
Speaker:easier later. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, future I want
Speaker:to I want to help future me. I want to help the future you as
Speaker:well. And that's what we got to be thinking about sometimes.
Speaker:Okay? And look, I can give you 1000 other examples, but so
Speaker:think about who is it that you want to be? How do you want to
Speaker:be in the world? What is it that you want for yourself and your
Speaker:family, or whatever? And then say, is this thing that I'm
Speaker:about to do right now? Is future me going to be happy for it,
Speaker:grateful for it? Is it going to say, like, oh, yeah, like that.
Speaker:That was a good choice. And I know sometimes we can only make
Speaker:decisions based on the amount of information that we have right
Speaker:now. And I also believe that we can learn from anything, so even
Speaker:the mistakes that we've made, we can, we can. We can gather
Speaker:something from that. We can look at that and say, like, Ooh, I'll
Speaker:never fucking knew that again, right? So even that is valuable,
Speaker:but why not set ourselves up for success by just thinking a
Speaker:little bit ahead, like, you know, imagining it, and then
Speaker:saying, like, Okay, I'm going to take steps today that are going
Speaker:to better my life moving forward. You know, is it my? Is
Speaker:my future? Me going to love me for these decisions that I'm
Speaker:making right now? And hopefully that's helpful in some way for
Speaker:you. Hopefully it gives you, you know, a chance to just kind of
Speaker:slow down and ask yourself, like, yeah, is who I'm being in
Speaker:alignment with this idea, that I have this vision, that I have
Speaker:this, you know, dream, that I have these goals that I have,
Speaker:and if they're not, then we get some work to do. And sometimes,
Speaker:you know, we just get really stuck in behaviors and patterns
Speaker:because they're familiar and they feel safe, even if they're
Speaker:not very helpful. And there's all kinds of pattern interrupts.
Speaker:There's all kinds of ways to help you to build new new
Speaker:habits, new ways of thinking, new ways of being right, and to
Speaker:make different choices. And sometimes we'll be like, you
Speaker:know, I sometimes will say to people, look your best thinking
Speaker:is what got you here. Look your your best thinking got you here
Speaker:so far. So if you're not quite sure what your next steps are
Speaker:like, Thank God. Thank God for books. Thank God for podcasts,
Speaker:thank God for coaches and mentors and people that you can
Speaker:hire to help you along the way. Because while nobody can do the
Speaker:work for you, you absolutely, in this day and age, do not have to
Speaker:do it alone. You don't have to do it alone. That's the whole
Speaker:one of the whole hot beats of my business is, look, this whole
Speaker:being human thing is not easy, navigating this and trying to,
Speaker:you know, navigate the world with more happiness and joy and
Speaker:love and clarity and confidence, all those things, right?
Speaker:Creativity, it's not always easy, but good news is you don't
Speaker:have to do it alone. So I hope future you is being set up
Speaker:marvelously, fabulously, brilliantly by today you and you
Speaker:know, just make sure your ass is not writing checks at future you
Speaker:get cash, okay, all right, wherever you are in the world,
Speaker:okay, wherever you go in the world, may you leave yourself
Speaker:and others and the animals and the planet and the environment,
Speaker:and may you leave fear? Future you better than how you found it
Speaker:right now, wherever you go, may you and your energy and your
Speaker:presence and your intention and attention and your love be a
Speaker:blessing. Bye, you.
