How would you describe the character of your future self? In what ways have you grown between now and then?
Imagine one year from now, you have an opportunity to visit a country you’re attracted to but that you know little about. You might want to consult a map as you start contemplating your journey today. What would you want the map to show?
In order to find the quickest and easiest path to your future self, it is helpful to have a map. The map does not need to be perfect, and there is no one able to sell you a perfect map to YOUR future self. After you have walked your unique path, you would be able to draw the map. For now, like ancient seafarers, you will make do with a map that is incomplete but captures the essence of what you and experts in human development know about your path forward.
In part 2 of this course you will explore a map describing fifteen elements of Self Leadership, covering relationships with:
Body: Your body is the vessel through which you experience and express life. Learning to honor and care for your body—through movement, nourishment, and rest—opens you to the joys of physical vitality and sensory enjoyment. This relationship is the basis for experiencing well-being and being fully present in your life.
Self: Your inner relationship—how you view, support, and nurture your psychological and emotional self—directly impacts your ability to learn and how you show up in the world. Building a compassionate relationship with yourself is foundational to living authentically and pursuing your purpose with clarity and confidence.
Everything Now: This relationship reflects how you engage with the world as it is—ever-changing, complex, and filled with paradoxes. Cultivating gratitude, presence, and acceptance allows you to move through life with grace and purpose, aligning your energy with the flow of life and contributing positively to the world around you.
Can you see how important these three relationships are? Can you see the benefits of putting these relationships first, for you and for others? Can you see what happens when you neglect these relationships over time, how it limits your capacity both to show up resourcefully in the moment and your ability to grow your strength, wisdom and repertoire of action in the longer term?
Most of us spend our days on autopilot, following the habits of our current selves. You can choose to take charge of your life and proactively build the new habits of your future self that will shape your future life. You can spend more time consciously choosing rather than following the autopilot. And you can reprogram the autopilot so that it directs you to your future rather than keeping you in your past.
The core practice of taking responsibility for our three relationships is a daily reminder of our intentions by reading or listening to an affirmation or prayer for our future selves.
In part 2 of the course you will go through the affirmation line by line, checking which lines you want to keep, modify or delete. It is not necessary that you change any of the lines. The map does not need to be perfect. It is important that you have a map that is good enough for now and that you feel comfortable engaging with daily.
0. May I nurture my relationship to my Body, my Self and to Everything Now. May these relationships create a fertile soil in which my other relationships and all that I hold dear can flourish.
1. May my Body enjoy the senses and movement
2. May my Body be strong, healthy, and in balance
3. May my Body receive all the nutrients it needs
4. May my Body get adequate rest, recovery and sleep
5. May my Body suffer neither neglect nor excess
6. May my Self see in new ways and express creativity
7. May my Self hear praise and unconditional support
8. May my Self know its values, purpose and intention
9. May my Self be curious and feel safe enough to grow
10. May my Self be fully appreciated, personality and all
11. May Everything Now sense my gratitude, prayer and surrender
12. May Everything Now be fully embraced as it is, ever changing
13. May Everything Now receive and bend to my aligned energy
14. May Everything Now evolve towards more benefit for all
15. May Everything Now be seen in its paradox and complexity
16. May I build sustainable habits of frequently connecting with the future self I aspire to be and who I already am.
If you are familiar with S.M.A.R.T. goals, you may observe that these goals are Achievable and Relevant, but not Specific, Measurable or Time-Bound. These are aspirations for relationships, not objectives by which you will judge success or failure. There is a mystery to our paths and you do not fully control your health, your psychology, or how life unfolds. The sentence stem “May …” is deliberately ambiguous about who is responsible for making it happen. Ourselves, certainly – but also our family, friends, colleagues, circumstance.