About the book

Based on over a decade of research, psychologist Hal Hershfield explores how connecting with our future selves can both improve our lives right now and help us achieve our goals and hopes for the future.

We've all had the desire to travel through time and see what our lives will be like later in life. While we want the best possible future for ourselves, we often fail to make decisions that would truly make that a reality. Why do we choose steak over vegetables at dinner, waving off concerns about high cholesterol? Why do we splurge on luxury cars rather than save for retirement? Why can’t we stick to our exercise programs? Why are so many of us so disconnected from our future selves?

Based on over a decade of groundbreaking research, Your Future Self explains that, in our minds, our future selves often look like strangers. Many of us view the future as incredibly distant, making us more likely to opt for immediate gratification that disregards the health and wellbeing of ourselves in the years to come. People who are able to connect with their future selves, however, are better able to balance living for today and planning for tomorrow. Your Future Self presents the science, describes the mental mistakes we make in thinking about the future, and gives us practical advice for imagining our best future so that we can make that a reality.

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Praise for Your Future Self

“As a pioneering psychologist, Hal Hershfield’s research has changed how I think about the future, and he’s about to do the same for you. His book offers a fascinating window into who you might become tomorrow—and how you can have more say in that evolution today. Your future self will be grateful that you read it.” ― Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and host of the TED podcast Re:Thinking

“A timely idea from one of today's leading behavioral scientists. Your Future Self delivers on its promise, showing you how and why mental time travel makes your tomorrow better today! What's more, this book is both personal and thoroughly grounded in the latest research, much of which Hershfield has pioneered himself.” — Angela Duckworth, New York Times bestselling author of Grit

“Hershfield’s entertaining and powerful book tells us how thinking about the future can change our behavior in the present—and help us grow into the people we eventually want to be.” — Carol Dweck, New York Times bestselling author of Mindset

“Who doesn’t want to grow? To have a better future? Fascinating and illuminating, Your Future Self shows us how to get there. It’s certain to shift the ways we live—right now and beyond.”— Jonah Berger, New York Times bestselling author of Contagious, Invisible Influence, and The Catalyst 

“When you get to the last page of this fascinating book, your future self will thank you for having started it. An insightful and delightful examination of the strange journey we all make through time. Don’t leave the present without it!” ― Daniel Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Stumbling on Happiness

"Your Future Self is at once mind-boggling and soul-stirring. Hal Hershfield makes complex science come alive — while also delivering practical tips to close the gap between who we are today and who we can become tomorrow. This is the rare book that will change whom you see in the mirror.” ― Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Regret

“Humans are funny creatures. We know what we need to do to take care of our future selves—eat less, save more, floss—and yet we fail to do them consistently. Hal Hershfield offers an entertaining guide to getting out of our own way that's rooted in science but full of practical ways to change.” ― Jean Chatzky, author of Women with Money and CEO of HerMoney.com