Stuck? Your Future Self Can Help

Season of Stuck

In this episode of Season of Stuck, host Deanna deBara chats with Hal Hershfield, a psychologist and professor of marketing and behavioral decision-making at UCLA Anderson School of Management, about the concept of future selves and their influence on how we make decisions in the present. During the episode, they discuss challenges like procrastination and why it can be so hard to prioritize the future self over the present moment. Hal also shares practical strategies, such as using commitment devices and visualizing the future self, to make decisions today that have a positive impact on both your immediate and distant future self. Deanna also reflects on the impact her future self has had on her decision-making and how her values—and how she makes decisions, present and future—have changed over time. Tune in now and start making decisions today that your future self will thank you for!

Tune in to learn about:

• Future selves and their influence on present decision-making
• What’s going on with procrastination
• Impact of different time frames on accessing the future self
• How to use commitment devices to guard against future behavior
• Building a relationship with your future self
• How to connect with your future self—and getting unstuck in the process

Thoughts from the episode:
“The difficulty arises when we prioritize the present day after day after day—in such a way that we keep telling ourselves that we want to do something for that future self, and then never really get there because we're constantly leaning into whatever we want to do right now.” –Hal Hershfield

About Hal Hershfield:

Hal Hershfield is a Professor of Marketing, Behavioral Decision Making, and Psychology at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and holds the UCLA Anderson Board of Advisors Term Chair in Management. He is the author of Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today.

Connect with Hal Hershfield:

On the web:

Hal’s website

Hal’s email

On social media:

X: @HalHershfield

YouTube: @haleh27

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Chapters

1. The concept of future selves (00:00:00)

2. The impact of future selves on decision-making (00:02:22)

3. Challenges in making decisions for the future self (00:03:30)

4. Exploring the concept of future self with Hal Hershfield (00:05:32)

5. Insights from Hal Hershfield on future selves (00:06:29)

6. Understanding the challenges of prioritizing the future self (00:07:01)

7. The struggle of prioritizing the present self (00:08:42)

8. The phenomenon of procrastination (00:10:47)

9. The difficulty in connecting with the future self (00:16:08)

10. Differences in accessing future selves based on time frames and activities (00:17:26)

11. Personal example of connecting with the future self (00:18:57)

12. Trick knees and broken legs (00:20:06)

13. Removing choice and commitment devices (00:21:03)

14. Empowering the future self (00:22:08)

15. Building a relationship with the future self (00:25:12)

16. Being considerate to the future self (00:28:15)

17. Navigating the push-pull between present and future selves (00:30:06)

18. Malleability of values and adapting to change (00:35:45)

19. Embracing change and transitioning to new chapters (00:36:40)

20. Meeting Future Selves (00:38:17)

21. Impact of Connecting with Future Selves (00:39:18)

22. Practical Exercises for Connecting with Future Selves (00:41:44)

23. Advice from Future Self (00:44:46)

24. Rapid fire Q&A (00:45:12)