6 - The Compass Letter

Alright, so this video is going to be quick, I'm going to explain to you what a compass letter is, why you should write one, how it works, and why it is incredibly powerful. So this is simple in terms of our metaphor. If you want to reach your destination, you need to check your compass. You need to make sure that you are acting in line with the course

you set out. So here's how it works. You take out a piece of paper and write yourself a letter. And you're going to read this letter at the end of the quarter. And there's no formula for this letter. You're going to talk about whatever you want to say to yourself in 90 days. So it's going to cover things like your goals, your hopes, your fears, your dreams.

It is simply a heart to heart between you now and you in 90 days. Just write. What you'll find, what most people find is that you could write for days. So take out a piece of paper and write a letter to your future self and just spill your guts. And you'll find that it's both incredibly enjoyable and it's a really unique experience. It produces a lot of

clarity, a lot of insight. And it's an incredible experience to read it and open it at the end of the 90 days. Once you're done, put it in an envelope. Write the date that your quarter ends on the top. Seal the envelope and then open it and read it at the end of the quarter. So why do we do this? Well, writing a compass letter every quarter

has two incredible effects. It increases your motivation. You talk about the reasons why you're excited, the reasons why you're inspired, the things you're going to achieve. And it makes it really concrete. You're writing to a person. You're writing to yourself in 90 days. And this is the second effect. It has an incredible ability to help you think in terms of the best interests of your future self.

So you put yourself into the shoes of your future self. So the psychology behind this is interesting because we tend to think about our future selves as a different person. It's weird. We think about ourself tomorrow and in a week as a fundamentally different person. You don't really associate with them. But writing a letter to them creates this sort of compassion, this sort of bond between the

you now and the you in the future, this sort of implicit agreement. And it is incredibly powerful. So that is why we write a compass letter to make sure every quarter that we are staying in line with what we want to achieve and to help think in terms of the best interests of your future self. That's it. Told you to be quick but powerful. I will see

you in the next video.