Becoming Your Future Self
✦ Matt Zinman ✦
Resilience Builder | Burnout Crusader | Author of Z-isms | Speaker | Corporate Trainer | Podcast Host | Happierness Innovator | Mindset and Wellbeing Transformer | Nonprofit Founder
The year is 2040 - who are you? What life do you lead?
Looking back to 2025, what would you say has shaped your life the most since?
Now you’re here. It’s today. How well do you know your ideal future self? How certain are you about who you aspire to be? And if you’ve made it that far, how clear are you about the path to becoming your better self?
On the other hand, you may be content with who you are and the life you lead. If that’s the case for you, it's an incredible achievement to celebrate!
However, if you’re seeking something greater, making a conscious shift to embrace your future identity can help fulfill that ambition.
Identity Shifting is an alignment skill where we become the person who has or experiences what we want. One approach is to imagine living your life as someone you want to emulate. Essentially, you pretend until it becomes reality. This isn’t quite “faking it ‘til you make it,” though adopting some aspects of that approach has merit.
Some foundational principles of Identity Shifting align with The Law of Attraction. It’s based on the idea that we get what we vibrate. The energy we emit makes our world conform to the frequency we choose.
You needn’t subscribe to that belief to benefit from these techniques. As you suspend skepticism, consider what it’s worth to you to have the life you want to experience.
MAKING SHIFT HAPPEN
What we expect, tends to happen.
Practicing Identity Shifting involves redefining your current self with a new understanding of who you are. You create a new alignment between your core beliefs and your desired identity.
Approach Identity Shifting as a powerful way to influence your subconscious behavior. By pretending to be your desired self, you adapt your thinking, beliefs and actions accordingly.
So, when this technique works, feel free to attribute it to your free will. It’s the outcome that matters.
YOUR FIRST MILLION
It’s a well-documented fact that the predominant common thread among millionaires is that they believed they would be millionaires.
Let’s experiment with that mindset. Believe and expect, with every fiber of your being, that you are a multi-millionaire in the not-too-distant future.
Aside from winning the lottery, how might you achieve this? Becoming a millionaire won’t happen by itself. It might start with a side hustle, launching a business, writing a book or pursuing other avenues of opportunity.
It's also essential to feel like a millionaire. To gain clarity, start by amplifying gratitude. Consider what you would do with an extra million dollars. How would you spend your days? Experience those scenarios as believably and gratefully as possible.
If you somehow need this to feel more plausible, instead of focusing on a fixed amount, consider being someone who steadily increases their financial well-being.
BACK TO BASICS
Identity Shifting is an advanced technique. If you're new to this topic, you'll find it helpful to revisit recent issues of THE BRIGHT SIDE for guidance on pinpointing your purpose, aligning values and beliefs, befriending your inner critic, harnessing self-belief and fighting for your freedom.
Unlike other aspects of the Law of Attraction, gratitude practices alone are not enough to bring about such a shift. The driving force for Identity Shifting is powered by self-belief and intentional action, often involving something effortful.
YOU BECOMING WHO?
Here’s a starter affirmation: “I believe in the person I am becoming.”
The key to Identity Shifting is being crystal clear about who you want your future self to be. Visualization activates your subconscious mind and programs your brain to notice resources that may have previously been overlooked.
Adding visualization to your daily routine will also motivate you to achieve your goals. Soon you’ll begin doing things unexpectedly that move you closer to your ideal life.
Here’s a refresher on essential aspects of Identity Shifting, originally from Z-isms:
1. Self-integrity: Make and keep promises to yourself.
2. Self-confidence: Identity Shifting happens outside your comfort zone. Increase your self-confidence through actions like exercising, positive self-talk and role-playing.
3. Align your relationships: Choose your tribe wisely. Avoid those who hold you back and cultivate relationships that align with supporting your future self. Proximity matters. Can you rub elbows with those closer to being who you aspire to be?
4. Acknowledge small wins: Build momentum by recognizing and celebrating progress.
5. Want it: Your self-belief must be fueled by an inextinguishable desire. Be relentlessly positive and undeterrable!
Embrace the challenge to free yourself from ingrained thoughts about your current identity. If you want to be seen as lucky, skilled, generous, or successful, you must break free from your limiting beliefs and assumptions.
YOUR FUTURE IS NOW
Identity Shifting requires dedicated practice and cultivating new habits. One effective method to visualize your future self is to imagine those thoughts, feelings and images as you’re falling asleep. This can be especially powerful to engage your subconscious mind to replay these aspirations throughout the night.
As you envision your future self, it remains essential to experience it in the present. As explored in shifting your presence paradigm, think of time as flowing through you as opposed to you through it. You are the constant.
LET’S GET PRACTICAL
One popular approach to Identity Shifting is to create a vision board with a collage of words and pictures that embody your goals and dreams. These images symbolize the experiences, feelings, and possessions you want to attract.
This activity will help you pinpoint and focus on what’s important.
Activity 1: Plan Your Vision Board
Consider how your vision board can reflect your life direction as well as balance short-term and long-term goals. Assess your current priorities.
● Romantic partner: Finding or enhancing relationships.
● Career pursuits: Securing a job you love, getting a promotion.
● Life skills: Improving or learning new skills.
● Home: Buying, renovating or finding your dream house.
● Finances: Becoming debt-free, saving or investing.
Activity 2: Create Your Vision Board
Traditional vision boards use cutouts from magazines, but digital versions are accessible and convenient. Choose vivid imagery and affirmations that inspire you. Keep your vision board in sight, such as on your nightstand or phone screen. You can also frame and hang it wherever you spend most of your time.
Dedicate a few minutes daily, especially before bed, to internalize your desires. Visualize, affirm, believe and manifest!
SIMPLY START
Your mindset may be your most valuable asset. Becoming your future self is part of a greater journey that instills you with excitement about limitless possibilities.
It’s also okay to seek more clarity before creating a vision board. Maybe start with a spiral notebook or jotting ongoing thoughts in your Notes app. Devote space in your calendar.
Keep it simple. Consider limiting your initial focus to no more than five facets of your future self. Begin practicing gratitude daily, if even for five minutes. You can intertwine appreciation for things that happened in the past, those happening now and the things you want to exist in reality.
As with anything new and different, these techniques likely fall well outside your comfort zone. A fair counterpoint is that successful people excel at doing things they dislike. Few good things happen by themselves. Make it enjoyable and keep going – your future self awaits!
As always, the choice to live on THE BRIGHT SIDE is yours to embrace.
THE BRIGHT SIDE is a 100% Human-Generated Publication
TBS Issue 22 - Personal Message
I hope you enjoyed this week's addition to our continuing "Self-Identity Series." Please feel welcome to join me about sharing:
● My Vision Board
● Gratitude practices
● Inevitability
To your HAPPIERNESS!
Author of “Z-isms: Insights to Live By” (free eBook and Audiobook)
Host of “Insights to Live By – The Podcast”
Contact: matt@Z-isms.com
SPEAKER DEMO REEL
As a corporate trainer and speaker for the conference circuit and company events along with wellness and women's organizations, I welcome the opportunity to have a conversation about having me on your stage and providing your audience with a uniquely enriching experience. Thank you for your interest to view this video and explore this together.
CURRENT PODCAST*
Welcome to the second installment of the audio version of The Bright Side, covering issues 8 through 12 of Matt’s newsletter for LinkedIn. These are: Fortifying Your Resilience; Shifting Your Presence Paradigm; Living in the Moment; Making a Habits of Habits; and, Upgrading Your Life with Less.
THE BRIGHT SIDE newsletter embodies an abridged version of some of the key concepts from the Z-isms book and courses to make them most, accessible, consumable and practical with the goal to help improve mindset, wellbeing and personal effectiveness.
* While Insights to Live By is on break, you'll find no shortage of past episodes - ENJOY!
EXCITING NEWS
I am beyond thrilled to have the honor of being the lead keynote speaker for the HR Conference Cruise in March. Topic: "Uncommon Mindset Skills to Enrich Your Life with Happierness." Please feel welcome to visit the link for full details as well as use my speaker promo code "FRIENDOFMATT" for an extra discount. My session, along with 5 others provide SHRM/HRCI credits. Alternatively, there's also a second cruise (2/22-27). My code is good for that too.
ADDITIONAL TOPICS FOR WORKSHOPS, KEYNOTES AND LEARNING PROGRAMS
● Extinguishing Burnout for Good: Personally and Organizationally
● Getting Out of Your Head and into Your Life (Taming Overthinking)
● Managing Energy: Personally, Interpersonally and Universally
● Defeating Depression Once and For All
● Foundational Skills for Emotional Intelligence
● Honing Your Intuition for Personal Effectiveness
● Uncommon Mindset Skills to Enrich Your Happierness
To consider having Matt keynote your next event or support your people with workshops, retreats and other custom training programs: Book Matt's Calendar to explore this together.
TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THESE LEARN-BY-DOING EXPERIENTIAL COURSES: The Mindset Reset, WellBeing Reset, Life Upgrade modules (click here)
MORE FREE RESOURCES
REVISIT PAST ISSUES
THE ESSENTIALS
Z-isms: The inspirational pearls of wisdom, life lessons or personal experiences people share to positively impact the lives of others; Insights to Live By.
Happierness®: A life-enriching mindset combining presence, resilience and free will to be intentionally present and have a reflex of positivity by choosing to embrace the bright side of every situation.
Earned Confidence: An logic filter based on one’s life experiences that proves it unnecessary to worry, be anxious or make assumptions about uncertainties because one is fully capable to cope with actual occurrences in real time.
Resilience: The capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; remain unaffected by insignificant occurrences; adapt to challenges; and, keep things in perspective.
Presence: The conscious state of observing, noticing and/or experiencing life as it happens while remaining free of distraction; intentional engagement to tune-in to the moments that matter. Practicing mindfulness.
Objectivity: Expressing or dealing with facts or conditions as perceived without personal biases, distortions or interpretations; to consider what’s happening from an impartial standpoint.
ENCORE NEWSFLASH:
It's now FREE to download the Z-isms eBook and audiobook -
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PAYING IT FORWARD
Please accept my warmest thanks for joining me on this journey into lasting life enrichment. I know you could spend these minutes 100+ other ways and you can count on me to make it worth your while. My only ask is to consider inviting others you know who will enjoy this content. There's no time like the present to share THE BRIGHT SIDE!
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1moAbsolutely, Matt! Embracing growth and new opportunities makes every day a stepping stone to a brighter future. Excited to see where your journey takes you next!