40 Minute Guided Meditation to Connect With Your Future Self

Hey everyone, Thiago here. Today I'd

like to share with you a guided visualization, a meditation that I've been using for some years to think about and plan for the future. It's called the

5-year countdown. First, I suggest that

5-year countdown. First, I suggest that you set aside some time for this. This

isn't the kind of content to break up into little chunks over several days or weeks. and place yourself in an

weeks. and place yourself in an environment that you're going to be able to be present and to really go deep inside. Somewhere quiet, for example, in

inside. Somewhere quiet, for example, in a room or in nature or somewhere that evokes feelings of presence and wonder

and emotions and just connection to your inner self. This visualization is about,

inner self. This visualization is about, yes, visualizing the future, but not just that. It's about getting specific

just that. It's about getting specific about the future and concrete, not with the goal of trying to predict or precisely plan how exactly that future

is going to come to pass. It's really

about visualizing and imagining the future with the intention of pulling information, pulling lessons and insights from that future into the

present. The reason we want to do that

present. The reason we want to do that is to make better decisions, to set goals that are more realistic and more rooted in who we are, and to create

intentions and priorities that match our values, our temperament, our sense of what's important in life. So, take a minute to get comfortable. Can help to

be cross-legged.

Take a couple deep breaths and sigh as you exhale like this.

can help to kind of put your hand on your heart or on your chest to kind of touch your legs and remember you have a

body. Remind yourself that you are here

body. Remind yourself that you are here now in one place at one time.

And I recommend you close your eyes throughout this meditation as that helps you turn your attention inward.

All right. Now that we're present, let's project ourselves into the future.

I want you to begin by imagining a day in your life 5 years from now.

doesn't need to be the perfect day or the ideal day, just an average day.

This also isn't about getting it right or getting it perfect or even being realistic.

Just allow whatever images, feelings, sights or sounds, even smells or tastes arise.

What comes up from your subconscious, from your body, from your intuition?

Allow it to be fanciful. Allow it to be weird.

Allow it to be something that has nothing to do necessarily with your current situation.

Five years from now, imagine waking up in your bed.

As you slowly open your eyes, what do you see around you?

What kind of bed are you sleeping in?

What do you see as your gaze falls around the room that you're sleeping in?

Is it a big room or a small room?

Is it completely dark or full of light?

Is it minimalistic and clean or messy or ornate, full of decorations?

Imagine where you would want to wake up. What is

your heart's desire?

Imagine the most beautiful bedroom you've ever seen, you've ever wanted.

Now, as you stretch, who is next to you in bed, if anyone?

What do they look like?

Is it someone you currently know or someone you'll meet in the future?

What's your relationship to them?

How do you feel towards them?

How do they feel towards you?

What do you say? What are your first words as you awake now? Imagine how you want your morning

now? Imagine how you want your morning to go.

If you could have any morning routine, what would bring you joy, what would bring you peace?

What would be fun?

And what would set you up for a great day?

Do you exercise or do yoga or stretch or meditate

or walk out on a deck with some tea or coffee?

Just imagine yourself going through those motions almost like it's a movie.

You're watching from an outside perspective yourself go through your morning routine five years from now.

What do you have for breakfast?

Try to see the plate in your mind's eye.

What does it taste like?

Who prepares it and how?

Who are you eating with, if anyone?

What do you talk about?

What's going on in the background?

Are there children, pets, people?

Can you hear anything from outside, from nature?

or the den of the city.

This is all based on what you want.

Doesn't have to be realistic. Doesn't

have to be reasonable. Doesn't have to be practical.

How wonderful and fulfilling of a morning will you allow yourself to imagine

now? What do you do next

now? What do you do next after breakfast?

Let's say this is a work day.

What does the timeline look like?

How long do you have before you start working? What time do you start working?

working? What time do you start working?

imagine yourself getting dressed, maybe getting your things together, notebooks,

your computer, an umbrella.

What else do you gather and pack up before you go to work?

Now imagine yourself going to your workspace or workplace.

Where is it?

Is it just down the hall at your home office?

Is it outside on a deck or patio?

Is it down the street at a co-working space?

Is it in an office?

Imagine yourself going there, arriving, saying hi to anyone that you work around or with.

How do you feel if you could feel any way you want toward your work and your workplace?

Do you feel a sense of anticipation?

Are you excited?

Are you determined?

Are you curious?

Go through the motion step by step.

Sitting down or maybe it's a standing desk, opening your computer.

Now think about the kind of work that you do, perhaps zooming out a bit.

What do you do?

What kind of role?

What kind of position?

What kind of profession?

Which industry?

What kind of company or organization is it? your own business or organization

is it? your own business or organization or someone else's.

Is it a small organization or a large one or a medium one?

Are you doing the same kind of work as you do today or something slightly different >> or something completely different?

>> Is it a junior role, a senior role?

>> Are you a manager or an individual contributor?

Try to picture the kind of work that you would most love to do.

Setting aside any constraints, your background, what you think is possible.

What is your most clear picture of the work that you want to be doing if there were no rules or constraints?

Who do you work with?

Imagine the kinds of people on your team or in your organization.

See if you can picture what they look like.

What's the look on their face?

What's their attitude towards the work that you share? Their attitude towards you?

How do you work together?

Is it in an office?

Is it sitting around a table?

Is it remotely?

Is it hybrid?

Imagine going through the workday.

How long is that workday? What time does it end?

What does the flow of the day look like and feel like?

What are the morning hours dedicated to?

What does the midday lunchtime look like?

What does the afternoon look like?

What is the structure of a day that you've designed that you've chosen that best supports the way you think, the way you feel,

the way your energy flows?

Now I'd like to ask you to think about the kinds of projects and initiatives and responsibilities you are working on.

What is it exactly?

Is it creative?

Is it marketing?

Project management? business analysis,

leadership, nonprofit work, is it collaborative?

Is it short-term or long-term?

How does it involve technology?

How much of it is spent in meetings and what kind of meetings?

Think about the people you're impacting whether customers or clients or other companies or organizations.

Try to imagine the people with problems and the needs and the desires that you are serving.

Think about the impact you have on them.

How their lives are better.

how their families are better because of the work that you do every day.

Now imagine the workday slowly winding down.

What time does it end?

What is the time that gives you all the space you need to get done what you want to get done

while also allowing you to have a personal life and time for everything that you do and are committed to outside work

Imagine yourself packing up, logging off, wrapping up, winding down for the day.

Leaving the office or workspace.

commuting or just taking a break.

What do you do as you arrive home for the day?

Maybe putting down your keys and your bag.

Who do you see?

Who do you talk to?

What is your routine to transition away from work?

What would you do if there was no time pressure?

If the demands of your family and your household were already met?

Do you exercise?

Do you relax?

Do you give some attention to personal projects or errands, people?

What hobbies do you have?

Do you play music or listen to it?

Do you garden?

Do you read?

Do you socialize?

Do you go out?

Do you meet up with friends for drinks or dinner?

What is the most pleasant afterwork period that you can envision?

Think about dinner.

What does it look like?

What are you having?

Where do you eat?

What is the ambiance?

Who is there?

How do you look at them?

How do you see them?

How do they see you?

What do you talk about?

>> How's the food?

Now dinner is over.

What do you do next?

Do you put the kids to sleep?

Do you read or watch something on TV?

Imagine yourself slowly transitioning to bedtime.

What time does that happen at?

What kind of transition feels good?

Do you take a shower?

>> Imagine yourself changing into pajamas, maybe brushing your teeth, getting into bed.

Take your time here.

There's no rush.

Try to go minute by minute as you pull back the covers.

Maybe set your alarm, turn off the lights.

And as you close your eyes and start drifting off to sleep, try to imagine, really feel in your body, in your chest,

in your shoulders, down to the tips of your toes, a sense of satisfaction.

This is your life.

It's rewarding.

It's fulfilling.

It's meaningful.

It gives you novelty and challenge, but also comfort and security.

You created this life.

You deserve it.

See if you can feel that sense of pride over everything you've done, everything you've accomplished,

how hard you've worked, everything you've sacrificed.

everything you've learned, everything you've mastered, everything you've overcome.

Try to bring that feeling of pride from the future into the present moment.

Now slowly allow your eyes to open.

Take a couple deep breaths.

You can kind of look around your surroundings. Remind yourself where you

surroundings. Remind yourself where you are.

kind of shake it out if that helps.

Just done some deep visualization and now it's time for part two.

Once again, feel your body, your legs, your heart. Take a deep breath and sigh.

your heart. Take a deep breath and sigh.

We're going back to the future.

>> This time to 3 years in the future.

It's now around halfway to that 5-year future that we just imagined.

What does the halfway mark look like?

You can kind of visualize a fastforward version of the average day, the ideal day that we just went through.

Where are you living that is setting the stage? That is an intermediate point to that 5-year vision that we just did.

Are you already there in that house or apartment in that city or town

in that state or country?

Or are you on your way there?

Imagine the morning routine.

Who is around you?

What does your family look like or your roommates or your friends?

Imagine your breakfast.

Picture going to work.

What is the halfway point of your dream work that you want to be doing that we previously imagined?

What skills are you working on that are going to set the stage for it?

What kind of position are you working in?

What kind of role in what kind of organization that is putting you on the the trajectory that we envisioned previously?

Think about the training that you're undergoing to prepare yourself.

Think about the mentors and the peers that you want around you to turn you into the kind of person that you want to become.

Maybe you're still making sacrifices.

Maybe you're saving money or investing it.

Maybe you're working hard to lay the groundwork for the career that your heart most desires in just two or three more years.

Imagine the parts of the work you're doing right now, 3 years in the future, that are already rewarding, that are already teaching you things.

In what ways is the work of today, the job, the business, the pursuits, in what ways are they already enriching, already fulfilling in their own right,

think about the impact you're already having, the contribution you're already making.

the value you're already producing for other people and their needs and problems. Imagine after work.

What does it look like?

What time do you end?

What does your evening look like?

>> How do you feel?

Having dinner, cleaning up, getting ready for bed, getting in bed, and see if you can imagine what it feels

like inside 3 years from now as you slowly drift off to sleep.

both already having an incredible life, one that you're so proud of, while also at the same time knowing that

you are preparing and planning for an even more amazing future.

See if you can feel both of those things at the same time. The value of now and the value of what's to come.

Now open your eyes one more time.

Actually, it'll be a couple more times.

Look around your surroundings.

Kind of check in with your body a little bit.

Take a couple deep breaths with a sigh.

Now we're going to do part three. Three

out of four.

I want you to close your eyes again if that helps.

And this time we are traveling just one year into the future.

one year. It's nothing. It's just around the corner, 12 months.

And again, go through a kind of fast forward of your average ideal day.

probably looks pretty similar to today, but with some key changes, some key bits of progress.

You might be living in the same place as you live now, or maybe not. Maybe you've moved sometime over the next 12 months.

In what ways is your home situation slightly better?

Did you redecorate?

Did you declutter?

Did you add some plants or some artwork?

Imagine your life just maybe 10 or 20% better, more inspiring,

more comfortable, more pleasing than it is right now.

Picture your bedroom.

Imagine your morning routine with maybe just a couple key changes that you already know you want to make.

Imagine breakfast maybe just a little healthier or a little more nourishing or a little more delicious than what you

eat today.

Imagine who's around what your relationship is like, how you speak to each other.

Imagine each of those people, if anyone, going off to their own daily routines.

And now it's your turn.

Where do you go to work?

What does the workspace look like?

What is the work you do?

Is it the same as today?

Maybe you got a promotion or a raise or move to a different department or a different team or a different company.

You decide.

You can write the story any way you want.

Imagine going through your workday What is the flow?

What is the structure of the day?

What are some little but significant changes that you already know you could make?

The lowhanging fruits.

What's the impact you're having?

What skills or abilities or talents do you get to express?

Maybe ones that you're not quite able to express today, but in 12 months you can.

What does your income look like?

Did it go up by how much?

What do your side projects or your side gigs look like?

Which have you now started?

Which have you finished?

Which ones are succeeding?

growing or making money that just 12 months ago were not.

How are you expressing yourself creatively?

How are you expressing your ideas, your thinking, your opinions?

How are you exerting influence that 12 months ago you weren't?

What are you learning?

How are you growing?

Whether as part of your work or outside of it, what new interests are you exploring and discovering?

How does it feel to wind down your day one year from now?

How does it feel to know that you've made some decisive changes over the last 12 months?

You've begun to move tangibly towards that future life that you've envisioned 3 years from now and 5 years from now and beyond.

See if you can locate that sense of progress in your chest or your back or your head. Where does it live in your

your head. Where does it live in your body?

Might feel like a sense of excitement, a flutter in your chest, a hair standing up on your arms or legs, your heart beating faster.

your breath getting deeper or faster.

See if you can really get in touch with how exciting your life is, how invigorating, how alive you feel,

and how proud of yourself you are for everything you've done, everything you've taken on, the harsh truths that you've faced

over the past 12 months.

As you lay your head on the pillow to sleep, notice that you can still remember what it was like 12 months ago.

It just happened. Feels like yesterday.

And notice that at the same time you can already start to feel what it will be like 3 years from now and even 5 years from now.

Notice that all of those versions of yourself are the same person.

It's all you.

All of that potential, 100% of it is inside of you right now.

Can you feel it?

Can you sense it?

There is nothing that that one year or 3 year or 5 year version of yourself fundamentally can do or knows or is

capable of that you are not capable of right now.

Go ahead and open your eyes.

Come back to the present moment.

Look around you. Stretch your neck, your shoulders. Oh,

shoulders. Oh, that was some truly deep work.

Don't underestimate it. Don't

underestimate what it takes to allow yourself to give yourself permission to visit the future can be a confronting place.

As we finish this guided visualization, I want you to take a few minutes, take advantage of this deep inner work that you've done. Find a journal or just

a piece of paper and a pen or pencil and do some journaling.

Think about the difference or the gap between your present self right now and that one year from now self.

12 months is nothing. It'll pass by like that.

And the decisions and the changes and the commitments that you make right now, today, this week, and this month will clearly be seen in that one year from

now self.

That one year from now self is very nearly who you are today with just a few small but meaningful differences.

What do you want to learn? start

learning now to make that one year from now self come true. What do you want to stop

come true. What do you want to stop doing that you can clearly see is not going to lead to that future?

What difficult conversations do you need to have now that is already going to start to bring that one year from now self into existence?

What investments do you want to make of money or time or effort? What books do you want to read or courses do you want to take? What projects do you want to

to take? What projects do you want to take on or say no to or cancel?

What changes do you want to make?

What changes do you already want to start preparing for, laying the groundwork for?

Because many important decisions and changes in life take more or less 12 months to play out.

Can you see that all those versions of yourself through time are so deeply connected? In a sense, they already all

connected? In a sense, they already all exist right now inside of you. You are

already becoming those versions of yourself. You are already moving towards

yourself. You are already moving towards them, evolving towards them. Whether you

want to or not, whether you know it or not, whether you're trying or not, it's all changing all the time, inside of you, outside of you, the things you

can control, the things you can't.

In what ways can you say yes to all that change, all that evolution?

Say yes to the things that life is already telling you are there for the taking.

Hope this has been valuable. I hope it's been helpful.

I hope you're a little more connected to the deep and profound potential that you have inside of you.

I'd love if you left a comment below as to what that is, what you're able to see or what you've realized through going through this experience.

Thank you for joining me and I hope to see you soon.