Back it in and Brew it.

Two things your Future Self will thank you for.

Photo by Isaac Quesada on Unsplash

“That’s a problem for Future Homer. Man, I don’t envy that guy!” — Homer Simpson

I can empathize with Homer. I left my Crystal Ball at home, but I don’t think I’m alone on this.

It’s a sad commentary, but there have been more times than I’m comfortable admitting where I’ve punted a present problem to my Future Self to deal with. That’s Self-Sabotage 101. If you’ve done the same, this newsletter was written with you in mind.

This particular newsletter is, to reference a football term, analogous to Day 1 Install, (meaning, we’re not going real deep into the weeds; we’re going to cover the basics) I don’t want you to be misled. We’re not going to discuss all the ways you can help your Future Self. That’s what my book is for. We’re just going to cover the basics so you, unlike our boy Homer, can envy your Future Self.

Consider this. You’re pulling into your driveway after a long day at work. There’s a fleeting thought as the garage door chunks open. Y’know, your Future Self hijacks your consciousness. It might help me out tomorrow morning if you—

You grunt. As if to say, “To hell with that,” and you drive straight in, throwing the shifter in P and head inside.

Later on, the sun retreats toward the horizon. You’re on the couch watching Netflix, reading a book, or playing solitaire on your phone. You swing a look over your shoulder. The digital clock on your stove tells you it’s bedtime. On the countertop, to the right of the stove, is your Mr. Coffee machine. Psst, your Future Self chimes in again. It only takes sixty seconds to set the—

You rock back on your couch to gain momentum, then up you go. You could make a right for the kitchen. You make a left for the bedroom instead.

The next morning, you’re stressed the eff out because you’re running late—which isn’t unusual—and your Mr. Coffee is still doing his thing. The coffee isn’t ready yet. Once Mr. Coffee has coughed his last drop of Cafe Bustelo, you pour yourself a mug of the stuff and out the door you go.

Why not just use a Keurig instead? It’s way faster. Fair enough, but I think I speak for most coffee snobs when I say, “It’s just not the same.”

You shake your head as soon as you step foot in the garage. Why? You have to back out of your driveway. Nine times out of ten, you back out with a hint of recklessness, resulting in you spilling the damned coffee on your thighs. Now you’re late, burnt, and very pissed.

I’m not your Future Self, but he will probably agree with me when I tell you it doesn’t have to be that way. I’m also not some Personal Development Guru. I don’t have some sexy alliteration for you to memorize in order to transform into the best version of yourself. Whatever that means. I’m Hunter; just a regular dude. And I believe in order to achieve success in anything you do—like stopping self-sabotage so your Future Self will thank you—you need to be hellbent on execution.

But here’s the thing: Execution has two best friends. Their names are Simplicity and Transparency. In other words, I’m gonna give it to you straight. No flowery bullshit. This isn’t poetry, homie.

With that in mind, let’s get into the two things that your Future Self will thank you for.

Back it in

Next time your Future Self starts nagging at you to back into your garage when you get home from work, listen to him.

Back my car in? Really?

I know it sounds like I’m trying really hard to be reductionistic, but I’m not. Simplicity and Transparency, remember? Here’s an unsettling truth: if we are above something as simple as backing our car in at the end of the day, then we deserve every last bit of God’s wrath come Judgment Day.

Think about it. When you pull straight into your garage today, you will literally begin tomorrow going backwards. If that isn’t self-sabotage I don’t know what is. One of the simplest ways to set yourself up to go forward in life is to set yourself up to, well, go forward in life.

Back it in.

Delay Brew

I don’t know the exact time it takes to prep coffee for the next morning, but your Future Self probably isn’t too far off with his sixty second guestimate. So, as a former mentor of mine is notorious for saying: “Just fucking do it.”

But Hunter, it’s only sixty seconds! To prep the coffee, sure. Then there’s the five-to-eight minute brew time on top of that most of us are willfully blind to. Think about it as an investment. Investing one minute of time tonight yields a guaranteed 500-800% return on your time tomorrow morning. The only other place that kind of return exists is in life insurance—and you don’t have to die to get it!

I used to sell life insurance. Forgive me if that analogy makes me a weirdo, but I’d rather be weird than be in a perpetual state of self-sabotage—that’s what’s really weird.

Take sixty seconds tonight to prep tomorrow’s coffee. Hit that Delay Brew button. You’ll be glad you did.

Final thoughts

Your Future Self speaks to you all the time; he isn’t limited to coffee and cars. What a tragedy that would be. But even if he was, you could do a lot worse than listen to him when it comes to the two things touched on today.

Back it in and brew it. Your Future Self will thank you for it.