The other week I watched this very inspiring speech by by Jack Gleeson who plays Joffrey Baratheon on Game of Thrones. The lecture is all about celebrity, and the ways that we hold someone else up as containing the attributes we should hope to achieve. He gave wonderful insight into what “celebrity” is and why so many worship that social status and even go beyond that to desperation to attain it. All of that stirred up something inside of me that I think of often, just never in that context.

To be able to see your future self as the role model to look up to would be an interesting and truly incredible idea. Envision who you want to be. What would your perfect self behave like, create, give, experience, etc? That person, the potential YOU from the future, could very well be likened to a celebrity, or someone that we hold above ourselves as something to strive for.

I believe that life is far richer and more fulfilling when we understand who we want to be, and then try to become that person. Each part of life can be enhanced because of it, from our work to our personal relationships, to how we experience the world. If we identify our flaws and work to correct them in the future, everything we do will seem brighter.

When I look to my future I cannot help seeing my creative endeavors, whatever they might be. I am not looking at specifics, but simply the idea that I will always create, no matter what the medium. When I think about who I want to be when creating the works of the future, I want to be someone more inspired, more passionate, and with more fire than ever. I want to hold my future self higher than I ever have my current self. I want to paint my future in a positive light and make sure that I grow into the best person I can be.

Celebrity is something that has always been around but, arguably, has taken hold of culture in ways never seen before. It is based around the idea that there are people out there better than we are in some way, and so we look to those people as role models for our future. And absolutely, there are plenty of people out there who deserve that status. But why not try holding yourself up and looking to that person to be inspired.

Do something with me. Humor me for a few minutes today…

Write as though you ARE that future self. Write as though you are YOU, but 10 years from now. What three things would you tell your past self?

You will become content.
You will become self-less.
You will become less competitive.

I look up to my future self instead of someone else who I can never become, because after all, the best person you can ever hope to be is the best version of yourself.