“Do your future self a favour and work hard today”

I first heard this quote on Alfie Deyes’ YouTube channel a long time ago. It’s in the back of my mind somewhere and I try to put it into every day action. However, I don’t completely agree with it.

The most extreme instance of this would be on your deathbed. If you had seized all the opportunities you were given, you’d be happy. However, if you had regret you wouldn’t want to die. Most of us live with regret, but we also live with achievements. Don’t the achievements feel much better to acknowledge?

I don’t believe you should work you ass off with the mindset ‘this will all pay off one day’. That is not living. You should push a bit harder now and you will have better results. But make sure you have time for life among your work. Go and meet up with your friend for a coffee, or arrange a holiday. Working hard now doesn’t mean you’ll have a better future. In fact, you are not doing your future self a favour. Time spent with friends is more prominent in your memory than when you got a promotion.

The reason I am putting this out on the Internet is because it changed my life. You’ll be reading thinking: what? How?

Simply, if you make yourself dinner your body will thank you. If you had a takeaway your future self would be like: “ugh, I feel so gross.” Making a sandwich may take a bit more time, but your future self will say: “thanks, past me. I feel better for eating this over a takeaway. And now I have extra money to buy that book I’ve always wanted”. 

Stop saying ‘my healthy lifestyle will start tomorrow’. Sorry for sounding morbid, but what if there is no tomorrow? How would you feel for being stuck in bed on your last day on Earth? Cliches are cliches for a reason. 

Do you think about your future self when you make decisions today? 

erin x

(It took a lot of courage to post such a cringy post. I can’t read through it twice without thinking ‘eww that’s so cringe!” LOLOLOLOL I am not posting this. Someone I know finds it and then our friendship is gone forever. This is actually a big risk. Should I post it or not? Will it benefit my future? Or am I putting at risk everything I have ever lived for? Or am I overreacting? Someone help me out here!)

Looks like I posted it anyways…

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The ‘M’ in March Means Mental Health. This month I am sharing with you a series of mental health related posts. There is such a stigma attached to mental health and we all need to realise how disrespectful it is to overlook this issue. In the UK, about 30% of young people have mental health problems. That is a huge number. That’s approximately 1 in 3 people! So, for those of you suffering, I hope these posts gives you some help. And for the other 70%, I hope these posts remind you to be more aware of your own mental health. Caring for your mind is just as important as caring for your body. So please tag along in this journey as we all shares our thoughts together. An overwhelming number of people wanted to help in this cause so I’ll also share with you their perspectives on mental health too!