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Cents Positive is a women’s financial independence retreat, where those on the path to financial independence (or already there) can connect. I was lucky enough to attend the inaugural retreat in Denver this past weekend, including the blogger day.
The best way I can quickly give you an idea of how it went is to show you what I wrote for the final exercise. Tanja was very insistent on making sure we all wrote a letter to our future selves on the last day. While I slacked and waited until the plane ride home, it was a critical exercise. And now I’m sharing with you (as it’s the only way I will not lose the letter)!
Letter to My Future Self (Prompts Bolded)
Write yourself a letter
Take a few minutes before you head home to remind future you of this experience, including:
- Your biggest takeaways from the retreat →it’s not all or nothing; we are all imperfect
- The biggest surprises or Aha! moments →we all feel guilt and shame and can be there for each other
- What future you should do if you lose your way on the FI journey →write out goals→talk w/Fergus
- What you want future you to remember when you reach your goal →nothing needs to be perfect
- What future you should do if you start to feel alone on the journey →REACH OUT AND VOCALIZE
Dear Future Me:
You have so much to offer. You bring others joy, you listen, you plot, and you scheme for world peace. You will try and you will fail, a lot, and that’s amazing because failure means growth. Embrace it, fail fast, and revector.
TALK TO PEOPLE. They cannot help you if they don’t know what’s wrong.
GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK. You are human. Go for walks, exercise, fuel your body with patriarchy-kicking energy.
CHECK IN. Don’t coast. You don’t have to do amazing things 24/7; you just need to stay mindful. Talk with Fergus. Make a spreadsheet.
What would you include in a letter to your future self? Do you regularly check in with yourself on goals (let me know how!)?
Fetching Financial Freedom 
Hi There! That’s a great letter! I might need to read it myself when I left self-doubt creep in. As for goals, I make a list at the beginning of each year of what I want to accomplish (e.g. complete Duolingo French, Read 1 non-fiction book a month, Lose X lbs etc) and have monthly check ins to see where I am. It’s fun and flexible because if I see something isn’t working or I want to shift focus (I’m learning Spanish instead of French now) I can. Good luck with your goals!
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Oops. Thanks for the reminder – I still haven’t written my letter yet! So good to meet you in person and looking forward to more of that soon 🙂
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Such a wonderful and positive idea! I have done something vaguely familar in the past when you write a letter as if you have achieved all your goals. Such fun!
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Ugh, that retreat sounded so good! I’m super sad I didn’t just bite the bullet and do it! Definitely want to make a letter to my future FI self now, haha!
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Okay so I’m a *wee* bit late to this post. Just a skosh. But I’m glad to hear you had such a good time at the retreat.
I think my letter to my future self would mainly talk about forgiving myself. I’m pretty hard on myself about my imperfections and, yes, actual failings. But the latter is in the past and can’t be helped. The former is probably mainly a matter of perspective and/or just needs reframing.
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Haha, it’s okay. I’m way late in replying to comments. 😉
I can so relate to those feelings, which are especially harsh considering I very easily forgive the same mistakes when friends or family make them. Strangely, thinking of myself as a friend seems to help a little.
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Love this idea! I used to write letters for my future self to open up once I achieved something really hard (like being sane and happy). I need to get in touch with that playful side of writing once again. I really love the idea of Giving Yourself a Break.
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