Ever feel stuck in a loop, wondering if this is all there is? Those moments when you question whether you’re truly living the life you’re meant to live can paralyze us or propel us forward. In this transformative episode, we explore how to create a compelling vision of your future self that acts as a north star, guiding you toward meaningful change.
Drawing from neuroscience and real-world examples, discover why simply clearing the canvas isn’t enough. Learn practical tools to craft a vivid blueprint for your next chapter, understand how your brain’s reticular activating system can work in your favor, and unlock the power of strategic imagination to create lasting transformation.
You’ll learn:
β’ A powerful letter-writing exercise that activates your brain’s visualization centers
β’ How to create an ideal day blueprint that turns abstract dreams into concrete reality
β’ Science-backed strategies to overcome common vision blocks
β’ Ways to harness your brain’s natural tendency to seek what matters most
Whether you’re considering a career pivot, wanting deeper relationships, or simply seeking more meaning in your daily life, this episode provides the framework to envision and create your next chapter with intention and purpose. This is about more than goal-setting. It’s about becoming the architect of your future self.
Part of our special four-week summer series, this episode builds on last week’s reset and sets the foundation for next week’s exploration of habits and routines that bring your vision to life.
If you LOVED this episode:
- You can find the 1-page worksheet HERE.
- Find all of the Summer Series 2025 episodes.
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- Visit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes
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Episode Transcript:
Jonathan Fields: [00:00:01] So, you know, we all have those moments. Maybe it’s after a big life event. Maybe it’s just a quiet Tuesday afternoon when you suddenly find yourself asking, is this it? I mean, is this truly the life that I’m meant to be living? Last week, we leaned into the question that really comes kind of right before that. How do we clear the decks so we can even consider this question? We took that much-needed mid-year reset as part of our four week Inner Architect Summer series. Clearing the canvas, looking honestly at what’s working and what’s not. We talked about releasing the things that no longer serve us, and gently inviting in more of what truly brings us alive. And if you haven’t had a chance to listen to that episode yet, then I’d encourage you to either back up and give it a listen, or just go download it so you have it to tee up right after this. It sets a perfect foundation for everything we’re building together in this four week series. Because while clearing the canvas is essential, it’s actually only the first step. Imagine an architect standing before an empty plot of land. They’ve cleared away the old structures, the debris, the overgrown weeds. But what’s next? They don’t just start pouring concrete randomly. They sit down. They dream. They envision. They create a blueprint, a detailed, compelling vision of what will rise in that space. And that’s exactly where we’re going today.
Jonathan Fields: [00:01:23] This week we pick up the drafting tools. We become the architect of our own future. Starting with the most powerful design element a clear, compelling vision. We’re going to explore how to move from simply reacting to life to consciously creating it. We’ll dive into some pretty fascinating insights about how your brain actually works, and how you can harness its power to really draw your desired future towards you. We’ll talk about practical, grounded ways to paint a vivid picture of who you want to become and what you want to experience in your next chapter without getting lost in the how just yet that’ll be coming. This is about clarity. It’s about direction and a deep sense of purpose that will propel you forward. Can’t wait to dive in with you in this second of our four week summer series. I’m Jonathan Fields and this is Good Life Project.. Okay, so let’s start out talking about a word. A word that kind of crinkles people’s noses and furrows the brows and makes you a little bit uncomfortable. That word is ambiguity. And it’s something that we have to live with all the time. The problem with ambiguity, with not having a clear, compelling picture of what you’re moving towards, ambiguity in the context of your life and how you want it to unfold. And when we don’t have that, the problem is that it leaves you incredibly vulnerable. Vulnerable. Yeah. So here’s what I mean by that.
Jonathan Fields: [00:02:59] Vulnerable to distraction. Vulnerable to external pressures. Vulnerable to the gravitational pull of the status quo. You can do all the resetting in the world. All the decluttering and releasing. But if you don’t know what you’re building, or at least have even just the basic sense of it. You really just tidying up a construction site with no end in sight. You’re kind of cleaning up the debris, the detritus of where you’ve been before, but you haven’t decided what is the beautiful, what is the masterwork that will rise in its place? So today we’re going to set about changing that. We’re going to get intentional here. We’re going to explore how to create a vivid, compelling vision for your next chapter. And here’s the kicker the really important nuance. This isn’t about rigid, hyper specific goal setting. At least not yet. That will come later when we talk about laying the foundation and building the walls. This right now. It’s about visioning. It’s about engaging your imagination, your emotions, your deepest sense of possibility. It’s about creating a sort of a personal North star that guide you even when the path gets a little or a whole lot foggy. Even when the winds of life shift. It’s about drawing that initial kind of expansive sketch of your desired existence. They might be thinking right now, uh, Jonathan, this sounds a little woo woo to me a little. Manifest your dreams board on the fridge and everything magically appears.
Jonathan Fields: [00:04:47] And I get that. I really do. For years, I was a skeptic. My background is in law and business and pretty grounded in common sense and what’s provable. I spent years developing tools and frameworks and diving deep into literally thousands of peer reviewed, published studies coming out of the, you know, most advanced institutions in the world. But here’s the cool part, the part that actually convinced me there’s some fascinating science behind why this actually works. I’m not talking about the general concept of manifesting. That’s a whole different thing, but I’m talking about a very specific approach to visioning. It’s not just about positive thinking, it’s about strategic brain programming. So our brains, it turns out these incredible, squishy, complex supercomputers are wired in ways that respond powerfully to vivid mental imagery when you vividly imagine yourself doing something or experiencing a desired future. Your brain actually activates many of the same neural pathways, the same neural networks, as if you were actually doing or experiencing it. It’s kind of like a mental rehearsal. So think about elite athletes, for example. Very often they don’t just physically train for hours on end. They spend countless hours in their minds visualizing every move, every shot, every race. They see themselves both crossing the finish line and feeling the burn in the muscles and hearing the roar of the crowd, but also doing the work, doing the training, putting in the repetitions. Like they visualize not just the outcome, but also the process.
Jonathan Fields: [00:06:35] And studies have consistently shown that this mental practice, this vivid visualization, can actually improve physical performance. It can also improve a lot of other things, sometimes as much as the actual physical practice itself. I remember when I was younger I was a competitive gymnast. I competed year round, I trained well, I didn’t compete year round, I trained year round, and I competed during the season, and I had to give my body a break at some point or else it’s really, really hard on your body. And what I would find myself doing is very often kind of closing my eyes and imagining, you know, if I was thinking about a high bar routine, like I would imagine walking up to the bar, I would imagine my coach’s hand on my hips as I jumped and he lifted me up. I would imagine the feel of the bar wrapping my grips around the bar as I began, and the breath in my body as it just stilled. And then I would imagine every single breath and movement on the bar as if it was real time and I was doing it. And that just kept reinforcing these neural pathways that let me do the thing that I was doing without having to actually physically do it a thousand more times, and it would also visual all the things that led up to it. I would visualize practicing particular movements over and over and over and over.
Jonathan Fields: [00:08:03] And the thing is, it’s not just magic. You know, this is about neuroplasticity. It’s neuroplasticity in action. You’re literally pre paving pathways in your brain, strengthening the connections that will be used when you take action, making the desired outcome feel more familiar, more achievable, more real to your subconscious. And this mental rehearsal also has a profound impact on your confidence and can even help reduce anxiety. When you have practiced a scenario in your mind countless times, your brain starts to become more comfortable with it. It reduces the novelty and the perceived threat, making you feel more prepared and capable. When the real situation arises. This is also oftentimes where people who work or serve in crisis situations will practice and rehearse it over and over and over and over again. They’ll visualize the rehearsals over and over and over again, because it helps your brain sort of become more attuned to it and more ready for it. It’s like walking into a room you’ve only seen in pictures. You know, it’s it feels familiar, less intimidating. And one fascinating concept here. What I love to talk about, you may have heard about this system. It’s called the reticular activating system or Ras or shorthand. It’s kind of an easier way than say it. Then just keep repeating reticular activating system. And this is a network of neurons in your brainstem that acts kind of like a sophisticated filter for your attention.
Jonathan Fields: [00:09:39] Think of it as your brain’s personal bouncer. Or maybe a highly efficient librarian. Every single second. Actually, way more often than every single second. Every fraction of a second. You’re bombarded with millions of bits of sensory information sights, sounds, smells, sensations. You’re razz. Bless its diligent little heart. It filters out most of it so we don’t just completely shut down from overwhelm, letting through only what it deems important or relevant to your current focus, to your goals, and to your survival. Um, that’s probably one of the big reasons it’s still stuck around for so long. It helps us stay okay. So a couple of common examples. Have you ever been in a crowded, noisy room, a party, a bustling cafe, a restaurant, right. And suddenly, amidst all the chatter. You hear your name spoken clearly across the room. That is very likely your raz at work. It’s been filtering out all the irrelevant noise, right? It’s all around you. It’s not that it’s actually measurably quieter, but your razz is doing this amazing thing of sort of like seeking for what it wants to pay attention to. And then so almost like filtering out and lowering the volume of everything else, it’s primed to catch something as important as your own name. Or maybe you or a loved one decided to get pregnant and suddenly you start seeing baby strollers, maternity clothes, baby product ads everywhere. It’s not that more babies were born.
Jonathan Fields: [00:11:25] Your race has just been tuned to now spot them because you’ve kind of told it. This is something important to focus on. Same principle applies to your life and your aspirations when you vividly imagine a goal or you focus on a specific outcome, you’re essentially programming your cars to notice opportunities, cues, and resources related to that vision that you might otherwise just completely overlook. When you have a clear, compelling vision of your future self, your brain, it starts to actively seek out the people, the ideas, the articles, conversations, and opportunities that align with it that support it. It’s kind of like your internal GPS suddenly has a destination programmed in, and it’s just constantly scanning for the best route. Highlighting relevant landmarks you might have driven past 100 times before, never even seeing them. This isn’t just about passive observation, it’s about actively drawing opportunities into your awareness and even more visualization. It can impact your brain’s reward system, specifically the release of dopamine. While dopamine is often associated with pleasure, one of its primary roles in habit formation and motivation is actually linked to anticipation. The brain releases dopamine not just when you receive a reward, but when you anticipate one so vividly imagining this desired future, feeling the emotions associated with it, anticipating that it’s going to come. It can trigger a dopamine release, which in turn increases your motivation and drive to then pursue those goals.
Jonathan Fields: [00:13:17] What you’re essentially doing here is creating a positive feedback loop in your brain before you even take that first physical step. So this isn’t about wishful thinking. It’s not about woo. It’s not about having to believe in some sort of metaphysics physics that you know you can’t touch or feel or wrap your mind around. It’s about strategic imagination. It’s about leveraging the incredible, often untapped power of your own mind to create a kind of a magnetic pull towards the life you want. It’s about giving your subconscious a clear target, a vivid picture so it can start working with you, rather than just reacting to the world around you. Now, how do we actually do this? Let’s call it the Our Future Self Project. That’s what we’re going to focus on in this episode, right? This isn’t about creating a rigid, hyper specific to do list for your future that we can talk about, and we will talk about in upcoming episodes when we talk about laying the foundation and building the walls. But this right now it’s about focusing on really more on being overdoing. It’s about who you want to become and how you want to feel and the qualities you want to embody, not just the achievements you want to tick off of a list. The doing will naturally flow from the being. So here’s a powerful strategy that I have used and I will use in the future. And I’m going to invite you to try it out this week.
Jonathan Fields: [00:14:57] The future self let’s call it letter or journaling exercise. And we’ll be right back after a word from our sponsors. So I want you to imagine yourself, let’s say six months from now, or maybe a year or even three years out, whatever feels sort of like tangible to you. Pick a time frame that feels expansive enough to allow for significant change, but not so far away that it’s completely abstract and disconnected from your current reality. For many of you who’ve been around for a while, you’ve heard me talk about my own two by 20 project, and that’s me sort of taking two years to imagine what my next 20th May be. And that’s kind of like an interesting way to frame it. But for now, what I really just want you to do is start out with six months if it feels good, or a year often feels just about right. Enough time for real shifts, but close enough to feel tangible. And now I want you to sit down in a quiet space, maybe with a cup of tea, a coffee, whatever it is that makes you feel good. And we’re going to write a letter from that future self to your present self. And I know you may be rolling your eyes and your head already saying, oh, really? This again? But we’re going to do this a little bit differently. And I’m telling you, this can be stunningly, stunningly powerful.
Jonathan Fields: [00:16:17] So in this letter, your future self is looking back at today, at this very moment. You’re listening to this podcast. And here’s kind of the questions that I want you to be asking that person and you can just kind of follow along. As I share some of these questions, and as we will have for this entire series, you’ll have a sort of like a one page or PDF that you can download. You don’t have to memorize these or write them down. You can if you want. Um, we’ll have a link down in the show notes for a sort of a cheat sheet for this entire episode, as we have for the entire series. So just kind of follow along and listen for now. So remember, your future self is looking back at today, at this very moment that you’re engaging with the podcast and asking that self these questions. What lessons have they learned since then over that six month window or year, whatever is right for you? What challenges did they navigate? What breakthroughs did they experience? What new insights have they gained? What do they value now, perhaps even more deeply than before? What is a typical day look like for them? How do they feel when they wake up in the morning. What kind of conversations are they having? Uh, what kind of energy are they bringing to the world? What kind of contribution are they making right now? Don’t just write about achievements like, oh, I got a promotion or I ran a marathon.
Jonathan Fields: [00:17:45] Those are great. Those are awesome. But this is different. Well, those are great. I want you to go deeper. Write about the feeling of those achievements. So something more like I got that promotion. And what truly changed was the feeling of confidence and agency that I now have in my work. Or I ran that marathon. And the most profound part was this deep sense of resilience and physical capability that I can do stunningly hard things that I discovered within myself. Right? Not just about the outcome, but about the process Us and the feelings that went along with it. What did your future self do differently? What habits did they cultivate? What did they let go of? Write about the subtle shifts in your mindset, your relationships, your daily rhythms. And again, I’ll have all these prompts in the one pager for this. So just kind of like listen along for now. For example your future self might write something like this. So here here’s an example of what a letter might look and sound like. Again, this is not going to be yours. But just so you can kind of wrap your head around it dear past self. You can just swap in your name if you want. Then remember writing like six months or a year out. Whatever feels good to you.
Jonathan Fields: [00:19:04] So dear past self. Wow. It’s let’s say it to you. Wow. It’s July 2026 and I’m looking back at you sitting there in July 2025. You’re feeling a little bit scattered, a little uncertain about the world and the second half of the year, weren’t you? Well, I’m here to tell you. It’s been an incredible journey. I remember you trying to figure out how to bring more calm to your mornings. Well, I’m waking up now, and first thing I notice, it isn’t my phone. It’s the quiet hum of the house, the gentle light just filtering through the window. I finally cultivated that morning routine. We talked about quiet cup of tea, a few minutes of meditation, sometimes just sitting with my thoughts and then diving into my most meaningful work with a sense of focused calm rather than frantic, distracted urgency. And I have to tell you, the difference in my energy throughout the day is profound. My relationships feel deeper and more authentic. I’ve learned to set boundaries with kindness. How awesome is that? And it’s allowed me to show up more fully for the people who actually, really, truly matter to me. And I’m spending less time on, you know, those superficial connections and more time having truly rich, unfiltered Filtered conversations. And remember that creative project that you were dreaming of? The one that just felt too big, too daunting? Well, it’s not just off the ground. It’s actually bringing me so much joy now, and I’m approaching it with this spirit of play and not pressure.
Jonathan Fields: [00:20:36] And the progress has been pretty mind blowing, and I’ve really learned to celebrate the small wins and that that really just keeps the momentum going. Oh, and that feeling of being overwhelmed that you sometimes carried, it’s pretty much largely faded. I’ve learned to say no, just a lot more often, to protect my energy and to trust my own inner wisdom. And I truly feel energized, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. And it wasn’t always easy. Of course, there were days when the old patterns really tried to creep back in, and they did in moments of doubt. But having this clear picture of who I wanted to become and how I wanted to feel, it acted like a lighthouse. Like a beacon. It kept me pointed in the right direction, even through the storms. So keep going. Trust the process. You’ve got this with so much love and gratitude. Your future self. So that’s just one example of how one of these letters might sound. Now again, you may be rolling your eyes. Oh, my, that is so goofy. Really? You want me to do that? And my invitation is. Yeah I do. Because no matter how goofy it sounds, it is astonishingly powerful as an exercise that activates your brain and moves you into a place of shifting action, taking and momentum. So. And you see also how that’s different from just saying I want to get a new job or I want to lose Β£10.
Jonathan Fields: [00:22:08] It paints this picture of the experience of that future. It’s about the transformation of your being. So as you write this letter, Try to engage all your senses. And this is where the sensory immersion comes in. Don’t just list things. What do you see in that future? What does your ideal workspace look like? What do you see when you look at your relationships? What is your body look like and feel like and then move on to another sensation? What do you hear? Is it the sound of birds in the morning instead of an alarm? The the laughter of loved ones, a quiet hum of focus. Work. The music that inspires you. What do you smell? The scent of fresh coffee or tea? The smell of rain after a summer storm. Sorry, it’s a summarized recording. This. We’ve had some recent rain and that’s something I just love. The the aroma of a home cooked meal, the fresh air on a walk or what do you taste? Wholesome, nourishing food. The sweetness of a quiet moment. What do you feel in your body? In your bones A sense of ease or lightness. Strength come. The warmth of connection, the texture of the clothes you wear. The feeling of sunlight on your skin. And the idea here is that the more vivid, the more multisensory and emotionally rich you make this vision, the more powerfully you program your brain.
Jonathan Fields: [00:23:38] You’re not just thinking about it, you’re experiencing it in your mind, which, as we discussed, it, starts to build those powerful neural pathways. And then there’s environment as a vision anchor, which is kind of an interesting thing here. This is a simple yet powerful way to keep your future self project alive in your daily awareness. So here’s what we do. Pick one small object or image that truly symbolizes this. Envision future self and place it somewhere that you actually see it daily. Now, this isn’t about a big, giant, cluttered vision board, though those can be fun and effective. For some, this is different. This is a subtle, consistent reminder that keeps that Razz tuned to the vision. It could be a smooth stone that remind you of calm groundedness, a small picture of a place that embodies freedom or peace. A simple drawing or sketch, or even just a word written on a sticky note that represents a core feeling that you want to cultivate. And you might place it on your desk, or your by your bedside, or on your bathroom mirror. It’s just this gentle nudge, a visual cue that reinforces really your desired future without demanding constant attention. It’s kind of like a silent, powerful partner in your inner architecture, a visual one that exists outside of your head, in your environment. That will keep reminding you of what you are envisioning.
Jonathan Fields: [00:25:18] Now, I know that some of you might be thinking, because these are some of the same thoughts that have popped into my head many times over the years. Jonathan, this sounds great, but I don’t even know what I want. I feel totally blank. Or what if my vision is silly or I’m afraid I’ll fail or this feels a little too woo woo for me. These are completely normal thoughts and valid thoughts. We have all been there and it’s important to address them with kindness and common sense. So let’s talk a little bit about kind of troubleshooting these common what I’ll call vision blocks. And I’m going to let’s talk about three of them here right. So vision block number one I don’t know what I want. I feel totally blank. This is something that comes up a lot you know. So we talk about this as sort of like how do we deal with that. If you’re feeling that right now and we start with what I call the compassion play. So first acknowledge that feeling. It’s okay. Many of us have been so busy reacting to life or fulfilling other people’s expectations, that we’ve lost touch with our own deepest desires. This isn’t a flaw. It’s just a consequence of modern living. And maybe we never actually tapped into those from the very beginning, because from the earliest days we have been living into other people’s containers, expectations and experiences.
Jonathan Fields: [00:26:44] That’s okay. Forgive yourself. Right. This is not a shame and blame thing. It’s okay to feel that way. So what about a strategy for this? Start with what you don’t want and then flip it. That can be just ridiculously powerful. For some reason, it tends to come a lot more easily to people if you don’t want to feel rushed and overwhelmed, then your future self probably feels calm and intentional. If you don’t want to feel isolated, then your future self is likely deeply connected and supported. So you see how this is working here. Sometimes clarity emerges from contrast, by identifying what you want to move away from the path toward something better often becomes a lot clearer. Another strategy you might approach it with curiosity and not pressure. So don’t demand a fully formed, perfect vision right away. Just ask yourself what might feel good. What might feel expansive? What’s one small feeling that I would love to experience more of? And just let yourself kind of play with ideas, even if they seem fleeting. Jot them down. The initial sketch. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Another potential strategy. Look for the sparks, pun intended. And you guys have been with me for a long time. Know that I am deep into the word spark and Sparketypes and those essential internal innate drivers that light us up. Think about moments in the past, or even fleeting moments in your present when you felt truly alive, engaged, or at peace.
Jonathan Fields: [00:28:28] If you’re inclined, if you haven’t done it yet, head on over to Sparketype.com and take the Sparketype assessment. It may give you really good insights into those sparks for you, you know? And just think also more generally, what were you doing? Who are you with? What was the environment like? These are clues to your desired future. So those are some strategies for that first vision block of like I have no idea what that even is. Second vision blocker. What if my vision just feel silly or I’m afraid to fail? Again, we start from a place of compassion here. This fear is often rooted in self-protection. Our brains are wired to keep us safe. And stepping into the unknown, even in imagination, can feel risky. It sounds weird, right? Like it’s. But it’s not real yet. How can that feel risky? Like I said, our brains often experience imagined current and future states as real, so it feels risky. The quote silly thought like this is just silly. It’s often a defense mechanism against potential disappointment. So what do we do about it? A couple strategies one, remember, this is a vision, not a binding contract. It’s kind of like a guiding light, flexible and adaptable. It’s a mental training exercise, not a promise to the universe that you will achieve every single detail perfectly. The power is in the direction that it provides. Not in the rigid adherence to every line of the blueprint.
Jonathan Fields: [00:30:03] So if parts of it change, that’s not failure, it’s evolution. You are the architect and you can always revise the plans and we’ll be right back after a word from our sponsors. Another strategy to think about focus on the internal shift. So even if external circumstances, they don’t perfectly align the act of envisioning and aligning your internal state with that vision, it can profoundly shift your experience of life. The success is often the internal transformation which then influences the external. So those are a couple strategies for that vision blocker. Let’s talk about the third vision blocker. And I’ve kind of referenced that a few times also because this tends to be my orientation. And that’s when you have this thought in your mind that says this feels too woo woo for me. Again, let’s approach it with compassion. This thought is completely understandable. I have it all the time. We live in a world that often prioritizes the tangible, the measurable, the logical, the rational imagination. It can just feel frivolous, you know? It can feel too out there, too light to be meaningful or real or helpful. So how do we deal with that strategy? First, go back to the science. Remember, remind yourself of the neuroscience of visualization and that reticular activating system the rays. This isn’t magic. This is actually a practical application of how your brain works. It’s about training your attention and priming your subconscious for opportunities.
Jonathan Fields: [00:31:44] It’s really no different than an athlete, or a musician, or a performer mentally rehearsing a performance or, you know, practicing a piece in your head. It is a mental workout, so it’s really much more grounded and practical. Another strategy grounded in common sense. Just ask yourself, does having a clear idea of what I want generally lead to better outcomes than having no idea? The answer is almost always yes, unless you’re just a rebel. And like, no matter what, you want to rebel against the answer. But for most people, this is simply a structured way to get that clearer idea. So I’ll share a quick story from my own journey. Kind of a bit more detailed this time. Many years ago, before Good Life Project. was even a glimmer in my mind. I was in a different career. I was actually in the fitness and lifestyle industry, doing reasonably well by conventional measures. I’d left a career in law. Learn the training business from the ground up. I started out making 12 bucks an hour as a personal trainer, just to learn the industry from the most fundamental point of service. Kind of figured out what was going right, what was going wrong, then had to build a better wellness mousetrap. Ended up launching my own facility, eventually sold that to investors, and launched a yoga center in Hell’s Kitchen, New York, which I grew for seven years, had just this gorgeous, gorgeous opportunity to work with and teach thousands of students.
Jonathan Fields: [00:33:15] But I felt this persistent whisper starting to build, especially in the last few years, the sense that there was something more, something different that I was being called to create. And as a maker, I am always being called to create stuff. It wasn’t so much a sudden epiphany, like a lightbulb moment. It was a slow, almost like a growing ache of misalignment. I felt like I was living somebody else’s definition of success, even though I had literally created the container and the day to day experience myself. This often happens with us. We start out with a lot of alignment, and then over time, the very thing we created to live the life we want to live. Experience is what I call drift or alignment. Drift. It’s just a natural phenomenon. I didn’t know what that something more was that I was feeling called to was at the time, and I certainly didn’t have a business plan for a podcast or a media company. But I started to do my own very raw and unrefined version of this future self project back then, which was very different and much more basic. But I kind of sit quietly, often late at night after my wife and daughter were asleep and I would just imagine, you know, I closed my eyes and picture what it would feel like to wake up truly excited about my work, not just not dreading it.
Jonathan Fields: [00:34:37] And I didn’t dread my work, but it was just feeling increasingly disconnected from it, but really genuinely excited by it. And I pictured the kind of conversations I’d be having deep, meaningful, unfiltered with people who were living just fascinating, purpose driven lives. And I imagine creating something that really, genuinely inspired me and also people to live more fully and more authentically, to step into their own potential. I imagine a level of craft and expression, the artistic aesthetic that I’d want to present to the world if I was going to make something from nothing and offer it out. I even pictured the subtle details the the light in the room, the the feeling of the microphone in my hand, the quiet satisfaction of hitting record and knowing that I was doing something that truly mattered to me. And I wasn’t just focused on revenue or audience size. Initially, it was about the feeling of alignment and joy and connection and contribution. I didn’t have the how yet. Honestly, when I started, there wasn’t a how because there wasn’t really an industry yet. I didn’t know the steps because they weren’t really knowable. But that vivid emotional vision, that future self that I was connecting with, it started to kind of act like a magnet. And in fact, before we shifted to audio, we started as as video for super long term community members know which we’re now finding our way back to after more than a decade as audio only.
Jonathan Fields: [00:36:06] And all of this deep visioning of qualities, even without the details clear. Yet it started really tuning that Razan to what I wanted to make real. And suddenly I started noticing articles about media, about human potential, about the power of conversation that I would have just completely dismissed before I started meeting with people who were in these spaces or adjacent spaces, having conversations at open doors I didn’t even know existed, and opportunities aligned with that feeling. That vision started to pop in unexpected ways. And again, this isn’t like a woo or a metaphysical or a quantum physics thing. This is a practical reality of what happens when you structure your brain in a certain way that is designed to pay attention to things it wasn’t paying attention to before, and that allows you to see things that often were right in your presence and then act on them, which leads to conversations and future actions and more opportunities. I remember right around that early time I was talking to Seth Godin and was actually sharing with him how much I really enjoyed sort of being behind a microphone I had as an author at that time. You know, anytime I came out with a book back then, it was really it was radio like I’d be a guest on a whole bunch of radio shows, and I love being in a studio just surrounded like that, quiet like womb like environment.
Jonathan Fields: [00:37:28] And I kind of had designs on public radio. And he said, you know, I want to introduce you to a friend of mine, Julie Burstein, who’s one of the founders and of the, like, famed studio 360 public radio franchise. And I met her one day in the afternoon and were walking around. She was a docent in one of the museums in New York, and I was telling her about my interest in it. And and she’s the one who really just took me into. Understanding much better what this medium, what the audio medium was about. And. How to start thinking about how I might step into and what the possibilities were that I was completely missing, to be honest with you. And you know, it wasn’t overnight that we began to grow and that I got clarity around what I wanted, and there were plenty of messy detours. There still are moments of profound out in times where I just wanted to retreat to the familiar, maybe even hang it up. But having that clear picture of the feeling and the essence of what I wanted to create, it was absolutely fundamental to eventually bringing Good Life Project into being. And that vision was sort of like the compass that kept pointing me home, even when I felt lost in the woods. And there were many, many times where I had that feeling. And also, it’s probably important to notice this is not just about big, life altering career changes.
Jonathan Fields: [00:38:48] This future self visioning project. It also applies to just so many everyday aspects of your life. So I want to share, I guess, what I’ll call a composite story that integrates elements from so many notes that I’ve gotten from our community and just beautiful humans. I’ve had the chance to mentor or advise and really tells a story, pieces of which I have been able to participate in and walk with people alongside as they’re exploring it. Um, so let’s call our person here, Emily. Emily was in her mid 30s. Felt completely adrift. She described waking up each day with a knot in her stomach, going to a job that paid the bills but really left her empty, and then coming home feeling too drained to do much more than watch TV. And weekends were pretty much spent recovering from the week rather than doing the things she loved. I am sure so many of you can relate to this. I certainly have been and can. She realized that she had been living more or less on autopilot since college. Really? And when it came time to imagine where she wanted to go next, at first she was just blank. She had that that first block or her initial reaction was exactly what we talked about. I don’t even know what I want. So she started with what she didn’t want. Remember that strategy? She didn’t want the frantic mornings and exhausting commutes that often defined her current life.
Jonathan Fields: [00:40:13] She she hated that feeling of rushing out the door and still always being late. And she also knew she didn’t want to feel lonely in her city anymore. So time for some future visioning here. Flipping those, she figured her future self would have peaceful, nourishing mornings and a sense of community. So that became a part of her vision. And she pictured a future where she woke up in a cozy home. She even imagined the soft blue kitchen tile and the smell of good coffee brewing and in her vision, she had time to each morning to just actually sit and enjoy breakfast, maybe do some writing or yoga. At sunrise, she saw friends dropping by, or neighbors waving a life where she felt connected and calm again, the opposites of what she described, which led her to the qualities that she actually wanted, and she kept fleshing it out in that future. She was doing work she believed in and at a gentler pace. One that came to her strongly was having her own little art studio space filled with sunlight and plants, creating art that made her and others happy. And okay, so maybe there’s just a little bit of me in this story here too. And now here is where it gets interesting. As she clarified the vision, she began to realize how misaligned her current life was with it.
Jonathan Fields: [00:41:29] And that’s something that often happens. She was working in a corporate job that demanded just late hours, frantic mornings. She lived in a city high rise where she didn’t know her neighbors. And as somebody who spent 30 years living in New York City. And over those 30 years barely knew a single person in the building that I lived. This is commonplace, especially in big cities, which it’s bizarre, but it’s the way things are. And her vision really nudged her to make some changes. So over the next year or so, she made these pretty remarkable pivots. She started a simple morning routine, getting up 20 minutes earlier to paint because painting was part of her future ideal day and that small habit. It made her feel more like the future Emily now. And eventually, she decided to look for jobs in a smaller town closer to her family, because the end community was part of that future vision, and she ended up moving to a mid-sized city where a couple of friends lived. She rented a little bungalow. Yes, of course, in our vision here it had blue kitchen tiles and she joined a local art class, made friends, and even though she took a slight pay cut, her new job and nonprofit gave her this sense of purpose that she’d never had before. And look, while she wasn’t entirely, quote, living her ideal dream life yet. And are any of us really fully? She just felt night and day different.
Jonathan Fields: [00:42:50] Instead of feeling lost, she woke up with a clear intention and contentment, and she could directly trace many of these changes to the vision she dared to articulate. Its like once she set her mind’s GPS, she gradually found the roads to get there. And she also mentioned the funny phenomenon that once she was focused on her love of art and community, she just kept meeting people who supported those parts of her, almost like magic. New art mentors, warm neighbors appeared, though in truth, they had been there all along. She just finally noticed them because she had tuned her brain to do just that. And hearing so many stories like this, even being able to participate in them, It reinforced for me how creating a vision can initiate a kind of like a chain reaction. It doesn’t instantly fix everything, but it shifts your mindset, which then shifts your behavior, which then shifts your reality over time. So sure, these kind of visioning exercises kind of feel silly at first. That’s the woo woo fear, right? But the clarity, momentum, the actions they tend to set in motion are truly stunning and often priceless. And what these stories mine and others, what they really show is that envisioning your next chapter. It isn’t about predicting the future with 100% accuracy or, you know, like relying on some sort of bizarre spiritual powers to bring it into existence.
Jonathan Fields: [00:44:20] It’s about giving yourself permission to dream. And in doing so, really equipping yourself with a compass. Life will still throw surprises. And your vision may evolve, but any version of a North Star is better than none. It focuses your energy and really attracts the people and opportunities that resonate with the direction that you’ve chosen. So now let’s explore one more powerful visioning exercise before we wrap up today. One that grounds your future self into more of the rhythms of your daily life. And this is the ideal day or week blueprint, right? And you’ve probably heard of this or done or seen versions of this, but I’m going to give you a bit of a different way to do it. And in conjunction with the future self letter, it can be really powerful. While the future self letter gives you the broad strokes and the emotional resonance. This exercise, it helps you break that vision down into the tangible day to day experience. It’s kind of about mapping out what a typical ideal day or week looks like for you in the future for that future self. Not a fantasy day where you win the lottery and line of each all day, but a realistic yet optimized version of your life. So here’s how it works. Grab a piece of paper and again, um, this will be, uh, we’ll have the instructions in this episode, um, downloadable PDF link in the show notes. So you can kind of just listen along for now, and you know that you’ll be able to go back to it.
Jonathan Fields: [00:45:57] So I want you to grab a piece of paper or open a document and computer a note on your app, whatever it is that works for you. Divide it into sections for each day of the week, or just simply block out a typical 24 hour period. Now, with your future self vision in mind, start to fill in the details of what your ideal day or week would look like. Things like. How do you wake up? Is it to an alarm or a natural light? What’s the first thing you do? What is your morning routine look like? Is there quiet time movement. Nourishment. How do you transition into your work or your main activities or primary devotions? With focus, with excitement, with calm? What kind of work are you actually doing? What does it feel like? What problems are you solving? What do you get to create? Like just just really detail that. How do you interact with others? Are your conversations are they meaningful or are they nourishing? Are they juicy? Do you feel you know? Do you feel truly seen and heard and do the same for others? What kind of breaks do you take? Are they restorative? Do you have rest integrated into the way that you move through the day? How do you nourish your body throughout the day? What is your evening ritual look like? How do you wind down? Um, what fills your cup outside of work? Hobbies, relationships? Learning? Creative expression? How do you feel at the end of the day? Is it satisfied? Peaceful? Energized? And again, don’t just list activities.
Jonathan Fields: [00:47:31] Describe the quality of those activities, the feeling of them. For example, instead of quote work. Not super helpful, right? Engage in deeply meaningful work that leverages my unique talents and leaves me feeling energized. Better, right? Instead of eat dinner, you might write sharing a nourishing meal with loved ones present and connected. So I’ll give you a bit of an example from my own ideal day blueprint, a vision I’ve been refining for years. My ideal day starts with just natural light waking me, not an alarm. I spend about 20 to 30 minutes in quiet reflection, often meditating and doing breathing exercises. Sometimes just journaling a little bit or writing. Sometimes just sipping some coffee and sitting on the front porch and watching the light change, which I love to do when the weather gets warmer. This isn’t rushed. It’s a sacred pause, then a walk outside. Or for me. Especially in the warmer weather, because I shift this to accommodate the seasons for me. I often will go out into the mountains, literally between 7 or 8 in the morning for an hour and a half, just feeling the air and noticing the trees. And my work blocks are focused, deep work, often writing or recording where I feel that sense of flow.
Jonathan Fields: [00:48:52] We talked about it. Take intentional breaks to move my body, to reset my mind, to reconnect with people I care about. Like I happen to have the amazing blessing of working with my wife. So we’re available to each other on and off throughout the day. Maybe step outside for a few minutes and my interactions are genuine. Whether they’re with a team or family, there’s a clear boundary for me between work and home life. Evenings are for connection, a shared meal with my wife or friends, maybe all of them reading, maybe quiet conversation or a simple creative pursuit. That’s for joy, not for output. Or reading a book that’s simply for fun and for joy. Not because I’m prepping for a podcast, although I do that too, but I try not to do it at night. I wind down by disconnecting from screens again. Not always. There’s tolerance for humanity and I do love some shows or, you know, reading a physical book, which I love to do. I love the feeling of a book in hand and feeling a deep sense of gratitude and peace before I drift off and listening to some just beautiful, soulful, soothing music as I do so. So that might be like what mine looks like. And this exercise, it’s incredibly powerful because it takes the abstract future self and grounds it in the concrete reality of your daily existence.
Jonathan Fields: [00:50:13] It helps you identify the micro habits, the environmental shifts, and the mindset adjustments that will be necessary to bring that larger vision to life. It shows you the small, consistent steps that really build toward the grand design. So this week, your main call to action in this second installment of our Inner Architecture series, our Summer series, it’s to embark on your own future self project. Take some dedicated time, maybe 15 or 20 minutes, or even more if it feels good and you just find yourself in flow to write that letter from your future self, engage all your senses. What does the next chapter feel like? What does it look like? What does it sound like? What does it smell like? What does it taste like? How does it feel in your body and your mind? Let it truly sink in. Allow yourself to dream, to imagine, to paint with broad strokes. And then, if you’re feeling ready, try mapping out that ideal day or week blueprint. How does that future self actually live on a day to day basis. What are the rhythms and routines that define their days? This isn’t just a dream. It’s a powerful map that you can create. It’s the blueprint for the inner architect within you. It’s the destination that you program into your own internal GPS. And the next week, with this clear vision in hand and having sort of done the reset from the last episode as well. We’re going to get even more practical, and we’ll talk about how to start building the foundations of that future, one powerful habit and routine at a time. It’s time to turn aspiration into actionable steps and transformative outcomes. Right. It’s time to move from the blueprint to the building. And until then, just keep living that good life. Pay attention. Tune in to what matters. Keep dreaming and live with intention. Be present. Tuned in to what matters to you. Show up the way that you want to show up. Devote yourself to the things that are deeply important to you, and know that one of those things is also you. I’ll see you next week.
Jonathan Fields: [00:52:29] This episode of Good Life Project was produced by executive producers Lindsey Fox and me, Jonathan Fields. Editing help By, Alejandro Ramirez, and Troy Young. Kristoffer Carter crafted our theme music, and of course, if you haven’t already done so, please go ahead and follow Good Life Project in your favorite listening app or on YouTube too. If you found this conversation interesting or valuable and inspiring. Chances are you did, because you’re still listening here. Do me personal favor a seven-second favor. Share it with just one person. I mean, if you want to share it with more, that’s awesome too. But just one person, even then, invite them to talk with you about what you’ve both discovered to reconnect and explore ideas that really matter, because that’s how we all come alive together. Until next time, I’m Jonathan Fields signing off for Good Life Project.