Instead of New Year’s Resolutions

While New Year’s resolutions and goal setting can be valuable, a more impactful exercise for shaping your future is writing a detailed future you letter. I have found this letter-writing process useful for creating the life you truly desire and I’d suggest this approach over making New Year’s resolutions or using other conventional goal-setting techniques.

When deciding who to share your authentic self with, consider individuals who can see beyond your public persona and genuinely accept the real you, even if it differs from how you present yourself to others. Your letter can be written to anyone – living or dead, real or imaginary.

While you are not expected to publish or send this letter, you have the option to do so if you wish. I have routinely addressed these letters to my mother, though I have never sent one. On rare occasions, when she was still alive, I reviewed a letter with her a year or more after they were written.

Future You

This end-of-year letter should provide a detailed reflection on the past year’s experiences and accomplishments. Discuss the activities, people, and places that were part of your journey. Reflect on your personal growth – what you let go of and what you achieved. Did you discover new favorite things or take up new hobbies? Describe any memorable experiences or fun activities you tried. As you write, aim to vividly capture the year’s sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings through specific details. Be as detailed as you would be if you were writing about the end of the current year. The more vivid your “memories” are, the better. You are not writing about the year just ending but about the year just starting. The more vivid the “memories”, the easier it will be for you to make the choices that will create the life you envision.

You can write this letter on your birthday or at the end of the year. If you opt for the latter, I’d suggest doing it sometime in the last couple weeks of December or the first couple weeks of January. That way, at the end of 2024, you’d be reflecting on your experiences from 2025. You are writing the story of your future you.

Exceptions, Suggestions, and what NOT to do

Do NOT write a routine, uninspired year. This is not the time for clichéd responses like “I wish for world peace.” Skip the rote answers and don’t just write down what you think you should want based on what you’ve always done or what others expect. Instead, write the year you truly wanted to experience. If you’ve lost touch with your authentic desires, try writing an Authentic Me letter instead. The Authentic Me letter requires bravery and thinking way outside the box to rediscover your true self.

If the timing is not conducive to starting an annual exercise or you simply want to write a one-time letter, I recommend an “experience sharing letter.” This type of letter allows you to embrace your authentic self at any time. Choose a real memory that makes you feel joyful, genuine, and full of life – whether it was a major event or a simple pleasure. Describe the experience in vivid detail, capturing the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings with specific sensory descriptions. Whether it was an afternoon tea at your favorite spot or a trip across the Nullarbor, recounting such an experience will remind you of your true self.