You 2.0: Start Building Your Future Today

What would it be like to go back 10 years and give yourself advice? Would you even listen? Would you look at that older, slightly more grey version of yourself and be convinced that they have no idea what they're talking about? Could you persuade them to skip the Friday night drinks at the club in exchange for an enticing 7% annual return on that money instead? Round of shots, boys? (Sounds pretty fun actually). Obviously, this is not possible, but with the right mix of perspective and patience, you can peek into your future and give yourself this advice now. Be proud of the person you'll become from the decisions you make today.

In this article we'll go over 3 ways to get a head start on becoming you 2.0, no time travel required.

#1: Creating the vision. Write down what You 2.0 looks like

If you are currently version 1.0 of yourself, what does version 2.0 look like? Write it down. It's important to have goals, but too many of them all at once can lead to paralysis by analysis. This can happen when there is a situation where overthinking or overanalyzing a decision or problem prevents someone from taking any action. Simply put, having too many things to work on leads to nothing actually getting done. Start with 1-3 goals max, this allows your focus to be spread out evenly, but not spread too thin. Most aptly explained by my pal Bilbo Baggins - “Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread". (Shout out LOTR trilogy, extended edition). Be extremely detailed when creating these goals - what does is feel like when you achieve them? What / who do you see around you? What kind of person are you now that you've gotten to this point? This is an important part of creating your vision, so don't skimp on imagining things down to that last tiny detail. For example, if you really want a specific shiny new car (personally, I am on a quest to own a Rivian one day, massive fan of them), imagine what it feels like as you open the door, grab the heated steering wheel and drive off the lot for the first time. How does the car smell, where would you drive first, who would you call to share the good news? Once you have your goals laid out, make a plan to execute on them. Each step toward your goal can be big or small - it's ok to go slow, as long as you're moving in the right direction.

#2: Make yesterday your last "Zero Day"

A zero day is considered a day where you don't do anything to move yourself closer to accomplishing a goal. Meaning today is day one of a new habit that brings you closer to achieving your vision. I get it, it's super easy to melt into the couch with a massive plate of food and watch 9 hours of Love is Blind (Nick Lachey has the best job in the world and I will fight anyone who disagrees). Anyway.. there are certainly days that call for that, but you don't want to make that your habit. Nobody ever changed the world with the Netflix loading screen reflecting in their glasses. To quote one of my favourite books, Atomic Habits by James Clear - "If you master continuous improvement and get 1% better each day for one year, you'll end up 37 times better by the time you're done". This is a fantastic perspective to have, as it really highlights how compounding effort can lead to big changes. Never think any action you're taking is too small or not worth your time. So what action can you take today to become 1% better? Is it something you can remain consistent with? Does it move you closer to your vision? Bottom line is that zero days certainly have their place, I've enjoyed one or two of them myself, but the only way to really move the needle is with forward and consistent movement up the ladder of success, one rung at a time.

#3: Embrace Experiences Over Money

If I could go back to 2014, I would tell myself to take the chances, take the trips. You'll always be able to make more money, but you won't always be 25, free of responsibilities, free to just take off for six months. I was always too worried about not having enough money to actually afford a trip, but then the months would pass, and I just ended up spending it all on other things - new shoes, the 4th dinner out that week, some random shopping spree to fill the retail therapy void. Using the money for travel, building relationships, or learning new skills would have been a hell of a lot more valuable than drinking at the local pub for the umpteenth time. The lesson here is that too much comfort can be dangerous - it's easy to settle into your cozy routine, knowing what each day holds, being in total control. Ironically, I am a very routined person. It's something I grew up with and it seems to have rubbed off on me, for better or worse. After 10 plus years of always knowing what my next move was, I ended up painting myself into a corner, professionally and otherwise. My friend group was getting smaller and smaller, I stopped saying yes to things, I made more money but had less of it, allowing lifestyle creep to well, creep up on me. A tale as old as time.

Enough was enough. I came up the the clunkiest of mantras to try and force some change - "Do literally everything the opposite of how you've been doing things". It doesn't roll off the tongue very well or make a good clickbait headline, but it has actually proven to be quite powerful. I was able to save money, go on trips, make new friends, maybe bought some new shoes too (never ever stopping this because I am obsessed). Shoes are part of my "rich life", something I'm more than willing to splurge on.

This year I took a trip to LA with my girlfriend. We spent two nights at a music festival. It was boiling hot out. Finding shade was priority #1. As the day went on and the sun went down, I felt like I was creating core memories by the handful. Everywhere I looked I saw something beautiful - my girlfriend dancing, people being kind to each other, the sunset slowly going down over the hills just behind the stage, and the thick air of the crowd lingering above with the possibility our night had ahead. We ended up having some of the most incredible moments together. It was beautiful and worth every single dollar it cost me. I'm not saying not to work hard and earn lots of money if you desire, everyone wants and needs to get paid. But, this trip served as a reminder of where my priorities truly lie, as those brief moments of joy are worth 10x as much in life than any material item can bring. This experience impacted me significantly. I needed the wake up call after not being away from home for a very long time. It reinforced that creating memories and experiences is what matters most and what life is all about.

I have always equated travelling with being "successful". If I took a trip that year, it was a good year, if I didn't travel, it was a bad one. Not a very healthy mindset, especially considering all of the good things that have happened to me throughout those years. So my question to you is, what do you consider being successful? What needs to happen for you to feel like you had a good day, week or month? Write them down. Once you find out what those little firecrackers of your life are, how do you get more of them? If there's a way that you can feel good and be proud of yourself for taking daily action towards your goals, working on what matters to you, and finding your joys in life, then there's a heck of a good chance that you'll be extremely happy with where you stand 10 years from now.

~ W.L