Have you ever thought about the bad choices you could have avoided with your added wisdom? The mistakes you could have skipped by? The smarter allocation and investment of resources like time, energy, and money you could have made?

I just turned 40 this year and published my book “The Spectrum Mindset” soon after. I have said in interviews how I wish I would have had this book 11 years ago as I was entering the world of small business ownership and fatherhood. This book could have been the cheat code for these endeavors.

The interviews often lead to further talk about what advice I would give my past self. No matter how good my advice is to my past self, it is only helpful if it’s used in the present. Otherwise, our past self can’t do much with today’s information.

So how can we make current advice more useful to our past self? Or possibly a better question, how can we make future advice useful to our current self?

Wouldn’t that be amazing if my future self could give advice to my current self? What would I have learned at 50 that I wish I knew at 40?

This question has taught me to start doing this “If I Only Knew Then…” exercise. It’s leaping into the future so I can look back at my past. And through that leap, giving direction to my current self based on where I want to be 10 years from now.

Let’s do this exercise together. (Please feel free to enter your current age into this process.)

I’m 40 now. 

Looking back at 30:

What intention do I wish I would have set? What do I wish I would have done then with what I know now?

Ok, now imagine you are 50 years old. 

You just went from thinking about 30 year-old you, to now thinking about 50 year-old you. 

What does 50 year-old you wish the 40 year-old you would have had more intention in? 

What will the 50 year old you regret you didn’t do 10 years ago?

After you’ve thought thoroughly through this exercise, return back to the present moment. You’ve just traveled 20 years and back, get present with the current sights, smells, and feels all around you. 

You now have the gift of time travel. 

The 50 year-old you just gave you some incredible insight into what you should have intention with right now. 

What action do you need to take and prioritize right now in this stage of your life? 

The 30 year-old you saw what you missed at 20, and the 40 year-old saw what you missed at 30, and NOW you have the gift of your 50 year-old self telling you to not miss THIS. 

What is THIS for you? 

Is it time with family? Stability in your finances? Habits in your health? 

If only I would have invested more time with my kids. If only I would have started saving a small amount of money each month. If only I started eating healthier and been more consistent with my gym routine. What “if only’s” will you wish you had started a decade ago?

Success leaves clues and regrets leave clues too. 

If there’s something you regret not doing in the past decade, take note of that. Don’t let it become a regret in this next decade.

Whatever it is you want to work on, start an intentional action right now. Don’t worry about what this habit looks like in a year or 10 years from now. Focus on one day and one action at a time.

Start the action today. Don’t say I have 10 years to do this. You have NOW to start this.

– Coach Tony