There’s an issue of The New York Times’ The Morning newsletter that I saved from earlier in the year. The intro, by Melissa Kirsch, talks about doing the harder thing first so that you’ll have an easier time later.
By Melissa Kirsch
One innocuous example is backing into a parking spot, so that getting out will be easier. Of course, there’s also going to sleep early so you won’t wake up tired the next day. She references a Jerry Seinfeld bit: “I stay up late at night ’cause I’m ‘Night Guy.’ What about getting up after five hours of sleep? Oh, that’s Morning Guy’s problem.”
Not a new concept by any means. But the way it was framed this time has stuck with me.
“When will the future me arrive?” one user asked Reddit’s r/SelfImprovement community, unsure if present sacrifice was worth some theoretical future gain. “Realize you are future you to past you,” another replied. “Have you thanked yourself for everything you’ve done?”
This idea of extending the same kindness with which I might treat others onto myself — my future self — flipped a switch for me.
Now I keep trying to do more things that, when I do it, I think: I’ll thank myself later.