The Myth of Future You

Ditching the delusion, rolling up your sleeves, and getting started before you're fully ready

This post is an excerpt from our zine, The Overthinker’s Guide to Getting Started — a short, tactical playbook for creative people who are tired of waiting for the right time.

If you’re in the U.S., you can get your printed copy for $22
Prefer audio & ebook? Grab the Digital Bundle for $17

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When you’re looking at your messy desk, the dishes in your sink, or find yourself running late yet again, this comforting thought promises that in the future, everything will be easier:

One day I’ll get my sh*t together.

You tell yourself that Future You will be more confident, more organized, and knows the magic formula to get where she wants to go.

You convince yourself that version of you won’t have any trouble taking action.

She’s creative!
She’s prolific!
She doesn’t care what people think of her!

Future You is living your dream life — running the YouTube channel, writing the book, launching the business.

That version of you has sorted out her impulse spending problem, regularly gets her car washed, and she never has to throw away the wilted salad mix in her refrigerator.

But we’re going to hold your hand while we tell you this...

You are never going to wake up as a completely different person. That magical One Day where all your problems have disappeared is nothing more than a fantasy.

sorry to burst ur bubble bb

Destination Happiness

Destination Happiness is the illusion that achieving a future milestone — getting an agent, blowing up on Instagram, or finally "arriving" — will unlock lasting happiness, confidence, and ease.

It’s the belief that once you get there, taking action will no longer feel like a struggle.

When you’re overwhelmed by the long road ahead, outsourcing your happiness to Future You temporarily relieves the weight of it all.

Destination Happiness sounds like:

It’ll be easier to start my YouTube channel once I buy the $2,000 camera that all the vloggers have.

I’ll be able to grow my Instagram once I move into a more aesthetic apartment.

Writing my novel will feel so much easier after I go on that writer’s retreat.

Once I figure out the perfect strategy and system, I’ll be able to be consistent.

I’ll start pitching my work to clients once I finish that certification program.

I’ll start sharing my story once I’ve achieved more success and sound more impressive.

Destination Happiness is a delusion most of us willingly buy into because it’s a lot more fun to dream about Future You than to be a flailing, unpolished beginner.

Remember that Future You won’t magically become flawless and effortlessly consistent.

Future You still has to file her taxes, put away her laundry, and pay her parking tickets.

Future You still feels insecure about people from high school watching her Instagram Stories.

Future You still forgets to take her anxiety meds sometimes.

The only difference between Future You and Present You is that she got started before she felt 100% ready.

If this essay made you feel a little seen 👉👈 in your creative process, you’ll love The Overthinker’s Guide to Getting Started.

It’s neither a 300-page self-help book written by some dude with a full time assistant nor is it a neurotypical productivity manifesto. Pardon our French, but f*** that.

This zine is a warm, tactical little guide made by two overthinking ADHD creatives who get how hard it is to start, how good it feels when you finally do, and how to get the whole process moving in the right direction.

So if you’ve been telling yourself you’ll start your Substack (ahem), open that Etsy shop, or pick up that creative project “as soon as things calm down,” consider this your gentle nudge.

You don’t have to be ready. You just have to brave enough to start somewhere.