Everybody is a blend of three people – Past, Present, and Future. Just like three friends walking down the street will have different plans and goals, strengths and weaknesses, so do the three versions of yourself.
“Past You” is the person that existed until just before this very moment. I like to call mine “Yester”, as in “yesterday”, and we have a love/hate relationship. That pile of dirty dishes that I need to wash today? Yester left those for me. My ability (and sometimes curse) to tell a different bad joke in almost any situation? Thanks Yester! Sometimes, this past self is just going along in life, trying to get from one minute to the next, not thinking about the future or plans or goals at all. Other times, he thinks he has a great idea that will change the world, and can’t wait to get it implemented. In every case, Present and Future You reap the benefits or deal with the consequences of his actions.
“Current You” (I just call mine “me”) is living in this very moment. This guy is like a factory worker from old TV shows and movies. He looks at what the line gave him, picks something to work on right now, and leaves everything else on the conveyor belt to move down the line for that sucker in the future.
“Future You” (hello, “Future”) is that next sucker, the one who has to deal with all of the brilliant ideas, hair-brained schemes, mistakes, lucky breaks, and life that the other two left to be dealt with later. When our past and present selves come up with good ideas, put in the work on challenging projects, eat right and stay healthy, it’s pretty good living for “Future”! If either one of them falls asleep on the job, or gets distracted by friends, suggestions, bad luck, or life outside of their control, it can be a long hard road for Future!
That’s why I’m so grateful to my past self, Yester, for coming up with a 10-year plan in 2010, then sticking with it for all these years. He decided that we should buy some houses and rent them out. He did the math on how many rental units we’d need so we could afford to support ourselves. That number, 30, seemed impossible. We had a 3-plex at the time, and it was a little under breaking even. Where were we going to come up with the down payment to buy the next building, much less enough to pile on 27 more units? How much was each unit going to pay, and what if our numbers were wrong? What were we going to do if a roof caved in, or a water heater flooded, or a tenant trashed the place and left us holding the bill to make it rentable again?
Well, it just so happens that eight years later, I have two positive things to report back. The first lesson is that bad stuff does happen; but you deal with it, learn from it, maybe put systems in place to dampen the blow if it happens again, and get back to life. Everything works out in the end. The second lesson is that reality was rosier than Yester’s projections. We’re sitting on 25 units now, and they’re supporting themselves. I’m hoping to buy 5 more units by 2020 to complete my 10-year plan. Once we reach the 10-year mark, they’re projected to be generating a higher return than we first calculated. They haven’t made me a millionaire, and they might not – but I’m more comfortable in my simple lifestyle, and I’m no longer afraid of having to eat cat food and living on my brother’s couch at the end of my life.
I have three traits that I can blame for any success I may have had – Optimism, Luck, and Forgetfulness. I’m pretty sure everything is going to go well, and my default view is the bright side of life. I believe this leads to finding opportunities that others pass up, because where they can only see the current negatives, I see the opportunity for positives. Luckily things seem to go pretty good. I’m surrounded by friends and family that have helped me when I needed it, and I’ve always tried to show my gratitude. Thomas Jefferson once said, “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” The hard work doesn’t have to be grueling physical labor, either, although there is some of that. I’m always asking, learning, reading, and thinking, trying to figure out the best, most efficient solution. This constant curiosity and refinement is what I believe leads to some of my luck. Finally, I practice selective forgetfulness. The things that go right lodge themselves in my memory, where I play them over and over and try to figure out how I can improve, while the things that went wrong can’t seem to stick.
The moral of the story? Be patient with “past you”. That person didn’t know as much as you know now and probably didn’t mean to leave you problems. Be calm with “present you”. You can only do one thing at a time, and stressing about the things you can’t accomplish isn’t going to get them done any faster. Be kind to “future you”. Decide if your current actions are going to leave a mess to be cleaned up later, and try to be as efficient as you can so you can reap the benefits later.