Goals

• focus on habits and small steps rather than the end goal
• assess your current habits
• identify and adopt key habits someone living the life you want would have

Introduction

So Freaky Friday was a thing. Repeatedly. With such an invigorating and intellectually stimulating plot, the next remake is just a matter of time. My bets are on 2026. Anyway, imagine you switched bodies with someone you look up to, an idol of yours, someone that has achieved everything you dream of achieving yourself one day. They have it all. The money, the brain, the body, the fame. And out of nothing, within the blink of an eye, you inhabit their body, living their life. You have everything you ever wanted, just like that. It's weird at first, but you certainly don't mind. Fast forward a few years. Life is not exactly how you would have hoped. A lot of things went downhill, alarmingly fast. The money? At this point, you've lost pretty much everything. And with it, all of that status, fame, and the cognitive abilities of your shiny new brain. But hey, at least you gained one thing: a whole lot of body fat. Generally quite depressed, you catch yourself daydreaming a lot lately. If only you could be like that person they keep mentioning in the news. Apparently, they managed to build an empire out of nothing within just a few years, unbelievable! And they look somewhat familiar, almost like the old version of yourself, just healthier, more charismatic, and better in every way. Oh, how you envy them...

I bet everyone has heard the stories of lottery winners that have lost everything within just a couple of years. A rich person is more than just the number on their bank account. It's the sum of personality traits, skills, habits, and the network they create around themselves. The same thing is true for pretty much everything else in life that's worth achieving. A healthy, fit person wasn't just lucky. They spend a lot of time and effort on maintaining their body, using habits they have built over many years.

So instead of waiting for a Freaky Friday scenario to miraculously make all your dreams come true, how about you adopt the habits of this future version of yourself, the version that has everything figured out?

Step 1: What do you want?

Sit down, with a pen and piece of paper (preferably multiple, especially if you're ambitious, and everyone likes to think of themselves as ambitious, right?). How do you want your life to look like roughly 5 years from now? Which job do you have? Where do you live? Do you own a house? How about your relationship? Are you married by then? How's your lifestyle? Any new skills you picked up? Any bad habits you finally got rid of? Dream up the perfect life for yourself, as vivid and detailed as possible. Try to cover all aspects. Use this list for inspiration:

• Health/Body
• Mental/Emotional
• Partner/Love
• Family
• Friends
• Mission
• Experiences
• Finances
• Learning

Step 2: How will you be like?

To circumvent any limiting beliefs you might have, in the next step, you will stop associating yourself with this ideal future version you have constructed. From now on, this is some random person that just happens to perfectly align with your own aspirations. What are they like? What is special about their personality? Can you sketch out a typical day for this person? What do they do throughout this day? Which habits do they have? Also: which habits are absent? A successful real estate investor might do regular trips throughout their preferred neighborhoods to stay up to date on how certain parts of it are developing and serendipitously stumble across potential deals. A passionate teacher might spend Saturday afternoons volunteering for an organization that keeps local kids off the streets, not only to support them, but also to widen their perspective on what education actually is, and how important it is for the next generation.

Step 3: Research habits of real-world examples

To help round out this person you are constructing in your mind, think of some real-world examples of people that are doing what you want to do in the next few years, or at least parts of it. Depending on how famous these types of people would be, you can either google their habits directly, go through some interviews, ask around on Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, or maybe you even know some already and can just invite them for a coffee?

Step 4: Assess your habits, and adopt new ones

At this point, you should have a list of habits, traits, and skills that are central to this person. Notice how we didn't focus on how they got to where they are, but just on what they do repeatedly. In most cases, simply adopting these habits will inevitably lead you down the correct path. Assess how well your current habits align. Which ones would be easiest to adapt and adopt, which ones would have the greatest impact? But don't overdo it, take baby steps and go for one habit at a time. If you're having problems when it comes to new habits and sticking to them long-term, I highly recommend "Atomic Habits" by James Clear. He summarized the most effective ways to integrate new habits into your daily routine.

All this talk of habits and Freaky Friday got me thinking: What if instead of bodies, Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis switched their daily routines and habits...? That's blockbuster material right there!!! Million-dollar idea! If you're secretly working on the 2026 remake of Freaky Friday, you better not steal that plot without at least giving me some credit!

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