Your Future Self

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What to expect

'A fascinating, profound and immediately practical guide to shaping your life to come, while living more richly in the moment' Oliver Burkeman

'A timely idea from one of today's leading behavioral scientists ... both personal and thoroughly grounded in the latest research' Angela Duckworth

'A fascinating window into who you might become tomorrow - and how you can have more say in that evolution today' Adam Grant

Few people would pass up the chance to travel through time and see what life will be like for our future selves. But while we want to envision the best possible future, why do some of us fail to make decisions that will truly make that a reality, while others succeed? Why do some of us choose steak over vegetables at dinner, waving off concerns of raising our cholesterol? Why do some splurge on luxury cars that we can't really afford, while others choose cheaper models and save more for the future? Why are so many of us so disconnected from our future selves?

In YOUR FUTURE SELF, Hal Hershfield reveals his groundbreaking research that shows that, in our minds, our future self often looks like a stranger. Many of us view the future as incredibly distant, making us more likely to opt for immediate gratification that disregards our health and wellbeing in the years to come. People who are able to connect with their future selves, however, are better able to balance living for today and planning for tomorrow. YOUR FUTURE SELF explains the science, describes the mental mistakes we make in thinking about the future, and gives us practical advice for imagining our best future so that we can make that a reality.

Critics Review

  • A timely idea from one of today’s leading behavioral scientists. YOUR FUTURE SELF delivers on its promise, showing you how and why mental time travel makes your tomorrow better today! What’s more, this book is both personal and thoroughly grounded in the latest research, much of which Hershfield has pioneered himself

    Angela Duckworth, bestselling author of GRIT
  • A fascinating, profound and immediately practical guide to shaping your life to come, while living more richly in the moment. I fully expect future versions of myself to thank me for reading it

    Oliver Burkeman, Sunday Times bestselling author of FOUR THOUSAND WEEKS
  • Hershfield’s entertaining and powerful book tells us how thinking about the future can change our behavior in the present-and help us grow into the people we eventually want to be

    Carol Dweck, bestselling author of MINDSET
  • As a pioneering psychologist, Hal Hershfield’s research has changed how I think about the future, and he’s about to do the same for you. His book offers a fascinating window into who you might become tomorrow-and how you can have more say in that evolution today. Your future self will be grateful that you read it

    Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of THINK AGAIN and host of the TED podcast Re:Thinking
  • Who doesn’t want to grow? To have a better future? Fascinating and illuminating, YOUR FUTURE SELF shows us how to get there. It’s certain to shift the ways we live – right now and beyond

    Jonah Berger, author of CONTAGIOUS, INVISIBLE INFLUENCE and THE CATALYST
  • When you get to the last page of this fascinating book, your future self will thank you for having started it. An insightful and delightful examination of the strange journey we all make through time. Don’t leave the present without it!

    Daniel Gilbert, author of STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS

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