As I move through life, I am often grateful to Past Kathy for setting me up for success. She puts my keys where they belong so I can find them. She replaces the toilet paper so I don’t get stuck with none. She even sits down to write a draft for a blog when she doesn’t want to. She does those things because she wants life to be easier for Future Kathy.

It reminds me of a Frog and Toad story, from the children’s series written by Arnold Lobel. In the story “Tomorrow”, which is in the book Days with Frog and Toad, Toad’s house is messy and he doesn’t want to clean it. It’s too overwhelming. I get it. I’ve been there. He says, “Today I will take life easy.” Frog points out all the things that need to be done, and Toad says, “I will do it all tomorrow.”

Then Toad is depressed because tomorrow is going to be so horrible. He can’t enjoy the day because all the tasks are looming tomorrow. Then Toad realizes that if he does one thing now, it’s something that he won’t have to do tomorrow. In the end, he does it all, convincing himself one task at a time to scrub the windows, dust, wash the dishes, etc. He is helping Future Toad!

Life is so much easier if we are constantly setting ourselves up for success. Small things like keeping belongings organized and put in the correct place lays an excellent foundation for ease in life. Big things like researching retirement vehicles and reading books for professional development help long-term goals get accomplished. Both require small actions that we can take to help our future selves live an easier and more successful life.

Of course, I am both Past Kathy and Future Kathy. If you want to be accurate, Present Kathy is really the one doing the work. In reality, Present Kathy does work that Future Kathy appreciates and for which Past Kathy gets the credit – and everyone is happy. It’s okay because we share the same goal of creating success that we all can enjoy. Talk about unanimity around a shared vision! There is a lot of power there.

We want to have goals and know the direction in which our desired future lies. However, goals are useless if we do nothing to achieve them. We must move every day, even if we don’t want to. Our Future Selves will thank us. Our Past Selves will seem like geniuses. In truth, it starts in the present. As always, the moment to seize is this one.

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