Name: Self-Control Is Just Empathy With Your Future Self
Author(s): Ed Yong
Medium: #articles
Release Date: December 6, 2016
Source: The Atlantic (Pocket)
Empathy depends on your ability to overcome your own perspective, appreciate someone else’s, and step into their shoes. Self-control is essentially the same skill, except that those other shoes belong to your future self—a removed and hypothetical entity who might as well be a different person. So think of self-control as a kind of temporal selflessness. It’s Present You taking a hit to help out Future You.
One of my work and life principles is "having empathy for your future self", and I believe that I got it from this article. Doing some of the hard work now helps "Future Me" receive a benefit.
This applies at work where I do what I can in front of me, and then I'll make reminders with specific instructions set at a future date. This process helps keep my paper work under control so everything gets handled at the right time. And when I receive a reminder, "Past Me" has told me what needs to happen next and I deal with the issue at hand.
Comments