Writing A Letter To Your Past Self

Transcript

Hey team. This week we're going to be

writing letters to our past selves.

So previously we've written letters

to our future selves.

This week we're going to be

writing a letter to our past self.

I've tried doing this before

and I found it really healing

and forgiving for myself.

I wanted to talk

you guys through the prompts

that I would sort of use

and how I would go about

writing a letter to my past

self. Now, I want you guys

to remember that

we don't want to be hard

on our past selves.

What's happened in the past

is now in the past, and what I want

this task to focus on

the most is how have you learnt?

How have you grown?

How can you reflect on the goodness

that has come out of the past?

Not necessarily reflecting on the bad

that's come out of it.

And if something bad has happened,

how have you grown from it?

How have you turned into the person that

you are today from whatever's happened?

So here's how I would go about

writing the letter to myself.

So the first thing I would do

is find a quiet space

where I feel comfortable and safe.

Grab your electronic journal,

grab your physical journal,

whatever you need to start writing.

Then you want to start with dear 15 year

old, dear 20 year old,

whoever you want to speak to in the past.

Do you want to speak

to your 13 year old self?

Do you want to speak

to your 26 year old self?

Do you want to speak

to...whoever is in the past.

So you want to say. Dear 18 year old me.

Then the third step is

Tell them about your life now.

What friends have stayed

around in your life?

Where are you currently working?

Are you enjoying it there?

Are you now single?

And that wasn't what you were expecting.

Do you now have a partner

that you are madly in love with?

Tell your past self what you're doing now.

Celebrate what you're doing now

and let them know.

How's your appearance changed?

Do you look different?

Did you dye your hair purple from blonde?

Tell them the fourth step

and this is most important,

but I don't want us

to get confused about is.

Give your past self some advice.

And what I don't want you to do, guys, is

I don't want you to be hard

on your past self.

I want you to go in

with empathy and forgiveness for whatever

they have done, good or bad.

And I just want to give you advice.

I just want you to give them advice

on how they could have done things better.

Now that you have hindsight.

Tell your 18 year old self, Hey,

you could have been kinder

when communicating this.

Hey, we probably could have gone

about quitting that job

a little bit better, etc., etc..

The last thing I want you to do to end

the letter is say thank you

to your past self.

They got you through everything

that you've been through

to get you where you are now.

You have to thank them.

They were strong. They were powerful.

They did what they needed to do

to get you where you are today.

So I thank them for that.

I hope this task is fun,

healing, eye opening, whatever

it is for you, I hope it's positive.

Let me know how you go in the comments

and I can't wait to hear about it bye.

We’ve written letters to our future selves. Now it’s time to write one to our past selves. Thinking back, there are so many things that I would want to tell my past self.

“You’re doing great!”, “Don’t trust this person” & “This is going to take longer than you think”!

Writing letters to our past selves can be extremely healing for our unconscious if we go about doing it in the right way. When I say in the “right” way I mean more so in an empathetic and forgiving way. There’s no need to be hard on ourselves and beat ourselves up for the things in the past. Instead use this as a time to reflect on what we DID do and how we would now do things differently or better now that we have grown as a person and have the benefit of hindsight.

Here’s what we’re going to do:

1. Find a space that’s quiet and makes you feel safe. Grab out your electronic or physical journal.

2. Start with “Dear 15 year old me” or “Dear 18 year old me” whatever past version of you that you would like to talk to.

3. Let them know what you’re doing now. What friends are in your life? Where are you working? How has your appearance changed? How are you currently feeling about life? Do you have a partner? Are you loving single life?

4. Give them some advice. Is your 18 year old self struggling with something? What advice would you give them now that you’ve gotten through it?

5. Say “Thank you”. Your past self got you through the last few years to where you are now, they helped you learn the lessons you now know!

I hope you guys enjoy this week's weekly reminder. I really encourage you to do it. This use to be one of my favourite journaling prompts, I am excited to do it again!

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Let me know in the comments below your thoughts on this method of journaling. Did you try it? How did you go?