What does ‘Future You’ look like? I love this concept of being able to implement new habits and improve the quality of my life, year by year. We probably don’t realize how much control we have over our future selves. In fact, we’re all constantly shaping our lives through our thoughts, beliefs, habits, and emotions. So what is the problem? We get complacent and stop trying to change. We end up not reaching our potential, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We can shake off complacency, step into intentionality, and take control of creating a future version of ourselves that’s happy, fulfilled, and thriving. That’s what I intend to do in 2025 and here are five easy steps you can follow too.

Listen on the player in this post or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or your favorite podcast player. Or scroll down to read a full transcript.

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Takeaways

  • Design future you on paper.
  • Display the details of your future self where you can see them daily.
  • Start allowing the details of your future self to guide your decisions.
  • Surround yourself with people who support your future you.
  • Track your progress and adjust as needed.

Resources Mentioned

Brand Positioning Coach (Carrie Tyler)

Promote your food blogging services: www.eatblogtalk.com/audioclip

Megan’s recommended books and resources at eatblogtalk.com/books.

Transcript

Click for script.

EBT649 – 5 Steps to Designing a Future You

Intro  00:01

Hey food bloggers. Thank you so much for joining me in this mindset and self-care focused episode here on Eat Blog Talk. One of the reasons I started a blog talk was to hold a space to talk about the importance of mindset and self-care. Being an entrepreneur can be a lot. If we are not taking care of ourselves, then getting actionable information about SEO Pinterest or whatever else is all moot. I will meet you back here every Wednesday to discuss various mindset and self-care topics. So you have the energy and space to tackle the rest.

Megan Porta  00:35

Food bloggers. Hello. Welcome to this mindset and self care focused episode of Eat Blog Talk. Thank you for listening. In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about five steps to designing a future you. I have been giving this topic some serious thought recently, because, as I’ve mentioned, in these mindset episodes previously, 2024 was not my favorite year, as far as my mind and my body being in the best shape. So I’m moving into 2025 with so much intention to create a better year for myself. I realize that some things are just out of our control and happen to us as we move through time and for the things that are in control, let’s take the reins and do our best with them. The concept of designing the Life You Want To Live is so intriguing to me, because really, we’re all constantly designing our lives, whether we know it or not, our thoughts, beliefs, feelings, habits and emotions from months ago or even last week have created where we’re at today. And our thoughts, beliefs, feelings, habits and emotions today are creating what our lives will look like in the future. You have more control over who future you becomes than you think. I know it is so easy to become complacent and passive and to not step into intentionality when it comes to shaping who we want our future selves to be, but you guys, let’s shake ourselves free from these shackles and take control of our lives. We can do this. We have the power to do this. I am really excited about this episode, because I could not be more pumped about creating an awesome, happy, energetic, fulfilled version of myself. 

Megan Porta  02:29

So I was thinking about my past year and how I’ve been either sick or exhausted or both. Most of the time, it feels like I’ve been constantly working on this, and in the past year, I felt like I’ve been giving it my full effort. But at the end of the day, or at the end of the year, I was still sick or exhausted or both, a lot of the time, and I’m so over it. At the time I’m recording this, it is just before the end of 2024 so I am giving myself six solid months to work on what I’m calling EFHM. I like acronyms that stands for energetic, fulfilled and happy. Megan. By the middle of July, 2025, the dreams I have for this future version of myself will be fulfilled. This is a huge priority for me. Designing your future self isn’t just about dreaming and having this vision in your mind of what you would like to be. It’s about aligning your actions with your dreams today, this week and this month, so you can create that future you that you truly desire. Maybe you have been feeling stuck or exhausted or just not like your best self lately. If so, you are not alone. I’m in the same boat, and I know a lot of other people are as well. This episode is going to give you the tools you need to turn that around let’s talk through five steps to designing a future you. These five steps might seem simple, but they hold the power to transform how you approach, your decisions, your habits and your relationships and really everything leading up to achieving that future version of you.

Sponsor (Carrie Tyler)  04:19

Hey, food bloggers? Is your Google traffic down 10, 30, maybe even 50%? Are you worried about future ad revenue? Well, knowing your audience and engaging with them has never been more important than now. If you are looking to grow your email list, connect with more customers, or figure out who your customers are and how to serve them uniquely or better than brand positioning coaching is for you. I’m Carrie Tyler, a food blogger with talkingmeals.com. But I have over 20 years of experience working in brand management for consumer good companies. I’m an expert in customer targeting and developing unique brand positioning and messaging that engages against trial earns loyalty and grow sales. I’ve done this for many products and brands you see on store shelves and now I’m helping food bloggers to do the same. To learn more, email me at [email protected] or go to talkingmeals.com/foodbloggers to sign up for a free 15 minute chat.

Megan Porta  05:22

Number one, design, future you on paper. Why is this important? Because writing your vision down makes it tangible and actionable. Let’s talk about how to do it. Start with a specific time frame. So it could be six months, one year, three years, etc. I actually feel like for the purpose of this exercise, the time frame should probably be on the shorter end of that, five years or three yearsdoesn’t seem quite as tangible as six months or a year from now. But start with what your heart is feeling. Write out all the details about who you are in that future time. Think about your qualities, your feelings, relationships, your environment, your accomplishments, your wins. Ask yourself questions like, What does my daily routine look like? How do I handle challenges? What am I most proud of? What qualities and characteristics do I have? How do I feel in my mind and body? Who is with me? What are my surroundings like? Get as detailed as possible. Spend between 10 and 15 minutes minimum, writing as much down as you possibly can about future you the more details the better. And if you need to go beyond 15 minutes, great, do that. I am going to be a little bit vulnerable, and share a snippet of my future, me that I wrote out on paper, because I want to give you an example about how to go through this. But I also like the idea of putting myself out there in this way. So I kind of feel like you’re holding me accountable, like I can’t ignore the actions that I need to take in order to get to this future version of myself that I desperately want. Okay, here’s what I wrote out. 

Megan Porta  07:09

By July 15, 2025 I have so much energy having intentionally worked on my physical and mental health diligently for the past six months, I’m at my ideal weight. I work out regularly. I walk at least 10,000 steps every day. I eat well. Most of the time, my mind is clear and focused. I know exactly which projects are aligned with my purpose, and I turn away from the ones that are not. I just feel good all around better than ever before. My work time is extremely streamlined and efficient. I’m healthy, both mentally and physically. I spend as much quality time with Dan, Sammy and Elijah as possible. We have tons of fun together, and we are super connected. We love our fun travels, especially water park and theme park trips. I absolutely love my time riding roller coasters with Sammy, and my coaster stamina is at its all time high. I adore my life. I love the new friendships we’ve made, both individually and as a couple. We also value and foster older relationships. Dan and I feel more aligned than ever before, and we’ve started looking ahead to a few years down the road, when the nest is empty. Sniff. We’re excited for that time, and I no longer dread it or am fearing it. My speaking skills have improved exponentially. I’m so much more comfortable and articulate when speaking in front of people, whether in small or large groups. Our backyard project and our dream Montana home finally feel like they’re on the horizon. I am going to keep working on this. This is not final. I will look at this every day and tweak it as I go through my year, but I’ll talk about that in a little bit. So that’s just an example of some of the things you can include in your future you dreaming when you put it on paper. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It doesn’t need to be super long. Just get out what you want future you to feel like, and get out some details about that future you, 

Megan Porta  09:08

Number two, display these details where you can see them daily. Why is this important? Because keeping your vision visible keeps it top of mind, making it easier to stay aligned. Let’s talk about how to go through this place a copy of your vision where you will see it regularly, so that could be on your desk, on your bathroom mirror, or as a screen saver or desktop pattern on your computer, or all of the above. Or you can do what I do and just keep it in a document that you intentionally open and look at every day, read it aloud or review it daily, to reinforce the image of future you. Like I said, mine’s in a Google Doc, and I have it open on my computer at all times. I just collapse it at the bottom of my screen, but I know it’s always there every day from now until mid July, and at that point I will press. Probably create a brand new one. I plan to open this document and read through it. This takes mere minutes of time, and it will have so much impact. Some things to keep in mind as you write out and do your daily review of future you revise and tweak as needed, new things are going to come to mind as you read through the details. Write them down. It’s okay to revise it. It’s not a set in stone project. It should not be a set in stone project. Get as descriptive as possible with your emotion. The more you can tap into emotions and how future you feels, the more quickly you are going to achieve those characteristics and goals. At first, it might feel hard getting into the groove with this new routine. So write a reminder in your calendar or your journal, if that helps you stay on track, consider creating a condensed version or a mantra based on the main qualities of future you to repeat during moments of doubt throughout the day. Consistency is key, just like with everything else, on your tougher days, having this vision in front of you will remind you why you started, why you are going through this process to begin with, and it’ll help keep you going. 

Megan Porta  11:15

Number three, start allowing the details to guide your decisions. Why is this important? Because aligning your daily actions with your vision bridges the gap between who you are and who you’re about to become. Let’s talk about how to do this. Use future you as a filter for all of your decisions before all decisions you make. Ask yourself, Does this action, does this decision, serve future me. Some examples are, does staying up late scrolling on my phone help future me feel energized and productive? Does investing in this course align with the skills future me will need? Does eating this piece of cake align with how future me will look and feel? Will skipping my workouts this week align with future me’s health and wellness will continuing to avoid meditation and downtime serve future me’s mental health? There are so many decisions we make throughout our days and weeks that we can start questioning to see if they align with the future version of ourself that we really want to be.

Megan Porta  12:25

Focus on consistency over perfection. This is not about being perfect. It’s about taking those small steps over time and making progress toward future. You not being perfect because that doesn’t exist. You will find that as time goes on, when you’re able to be consistent with allowing future you to guide your decisions that you make today and this week and this month, it will start to become much easier. It’s definitely going to be a process. I think we get so used to ignoring the implications of the decisions we make today. The whole point of this is to stop ignoring the things that are so important, the details in our lives, those little decisions we make all the time, truly do carry importance. This aligns with the concept in James Clears book Atomic Habits, that talks about casting a vote today for a future version of yourself. I love that so much. I carry this with me all the time. Do not underestimate the power of the little votes that you can cast for yourself throughout the day, not a future day, but today. 

Megan Porta  13:34

Here are just a couple examples of small wins that can build momentum over time. So choosing water over soda, going for a 10 minute walk versus sitting on the couch or saying no to one unnecessary call or commitment. And again, it’s not about perfection. It’s okay if you fall off track, it’s going to happen. Future you does not want you to be perfect. Future you wants you to make progress over time and make more aligned choices over time. 

Megan Porta  14:05

Number four, surround yourself with people who support future you. Why is this important? Because the people around you influence your mindset, your habits and your trajectory. Let’s talk about how to do this. Start with identifying relationships that encourage your growth and that align with your vision a future you if you feel like you don’t have a ton of encouraging, supportive people in your life, seek out mentors, coaches or communities that support you and your goals, you will probably also need to set boundaries with relationships that might hold you back or discourage your growth. This is such a toughy and something that is easy to get hung up on. I get it. I feel like it’s really important for me to say this. It doesn’t matter how unsupported you feel in your everyday life. There are people and groups and mentors out there who want you to succeed and who want you to become that future version of yourself that you desire. Seek out those people and immerse yourself in their worlds. Focus on the positivity and encouragement you receive from others, not the negativity and discouragement you might receive from other people in your life, where focus goes, energy flows. Become an expert at directing your focus to the supportive, positive people in your life. Here are some ideas for where to look for supportive people if you’re feeling stuck with this, start with an established Facebook group that you’ve been a part of. Reach out to people who feel just like a good fit for you, and strike up a conversation. Make friendships. Consider inviting a handful of trusted peers or friends into a regular mastermind group or into your home if you know peers who live in your city, join a high quality mastermind group or invest in a good business or mindset coach. These things are all life changers. Do an audit of your current relationships, categorizing them as supportive, neutral or discouraging, and for the support of people, express gratitude to those who do support you, which will foster even stronger bonds between you and create an even more supportive network of people for you, present you and future you. 

Megan Porta  16:20

Number five, track your progress and adjust as needed. Why is this important? Because growth is not linear. Flexibility helps you to stay aligned with your evolving vision. Let’s talk about how to do this. Not only should you regularly review your vision of future, you also regularly review your progress. I would say, every month or so, ask yourself if your habits and decisions are moving you in the right direction. Do you feel like you’re inching closer to future you or farther away from future? You reflect on challenges that have come up and adjust your approach, if needed, if all of this feels too hard or too overwhelming, maybe just commit to making one positive change per week. When it comes to your decision making and habits, anyone can change one thing per week. So from there, maybe you upgrade to making three positive changes per week, and then five and so on. I know this, and I know you know this too. Food bloggers and perfection are a little bit synonymous. We like for things to be just right and just perfectly perfect. Ditch this mindset, because this process will not be perfect. Move through the first few months having a ton of grace for yourself. Keep adjusting your plan and your vision of future you as needed. Celebrate wins along the way, big wins and small wins in order to maintain motivation in your momentum. One example of me doing this recently is that back in the summer, it was nice in Minnesota, so I was doing a lot of walking outside. I was going to our local theme park with my youngest son a lot. So I was getting a lot of steps every day, and I kind of used that as my template going into the fall, like if I could do that many steps, then, well, of course I can keep doing it. But I found that that didn’t align with the season that we were in. So I was getting super frustrated because I was never meeting that goal. So I did a complete reset of that particular goal and scaled my goal steps way back. That changed everything. It made everything more doable and feasible. It didn’t put pressure on me to attain this number of steps every day that I literally just couldn’t in the season that we were in these little adjustments in your goals and your life matter, keep adjusting as needed with that future version of you in mind and the concept that we’re not striving for perfection, we are striving to make progress over time. 

Megan Porta  18:59

Okay, let’s recap the five steps to design future. You first design future you on paper. Review the vision daily, allow it to guide your decisions, surround yourself with supportive people and track your progress. I so strongly encourage you to start designing your future you today. Don’t wait on this. Sit down and go through this now so you don’t let another month go by where you’re not working on achieving that future dream you that you really want to achieve. Your future self is closer than you think, and it is shaped by the decisions you make every day. You are the designer of your future. Nobody else is. Start now one step at a time, and watch how your intentional actions create the version of you that you’ve always dreamed of becoming. Thank you so much for listening food bloggers. I will see you next week. I hope you loved this episode. 

Outro 

Thank you so much for listening to this mindset and self-care episode here on Eat Blog Talk. If you are a food blogger providing a service for other food bloggers, and you want to spread the word about the value that you offer. I would love to offer you a free way to do just this. Send me a 60 second audio clip to be featured in a mindset and self-care episode here on Eat Blog Talk. Go to eatblogtalk.com/audioclip to learn more.


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