A letter from December 19th, 2015

Dear Future Me, Just found this website reading The Willpower Instinct book (do you remember that? Good book.) and I thought it'd be cool to check in on you. I hope you still read a lot. I will have probably read about 18 or 19 books by the end of this year and I hope you've been averaging at least 30 by the time you get this. You can't afford not to. I have begun living daily habits this year that I think will lead me to financial independence and general success. Hopefully these habits continue and by the time you read this they are starting to bear fruit. I read daily, work, do my eBay business for extra cash, watch documentaries, listen to audio books in the car, and generally have a strong drive to become an entrepreneur. I hope you are still as naturally curious and inspired to learn as I am. I began working at State Farm in August, my first real job out of college. That ****'s already getting pretty boring to me and the pay is ****. I hope you are working for yourself right now. If not, I hope you've put a lot of money away and are working on a plan to work for yourself. I have managed to save about $7,400 since August. Hopefully that number is far higher by now (unless much of the money is sunk into a business, as I hope it is). I live at home so I'm still playing life on easy mode. I'm sure **** will get real once I move out. Still kinda uneasy with the idea of moving out. High living expenses suck and I feel an attachment to my family that will be hard to break. I wonder how you feel right now as you reflect on the first year after you finally moved out. I've been reading Karl Marx recently and have become more influenced by the bourgeois/proletariat relationship he describes. It has made me more disenfranchised with the current economic system but at the same time I recognize my duty to improve my place in it and aim to advance from an exploited proletarian to a bourgeois. This is my main goal for the time between now and when you read this and I truly hope you've achieved it or are well on your way. If you are a bourgeois when you read this, idealist 23 year old you asks that you please remember the poor proletariat. Treat your employees well. I don't have a girlfriend at the moment and although I admire women as much as the next guy, I haven't been as motivated by them as I have by money and knowledge. I am truly curious to know what your relationship status and history will be in 2025. If you have a devoted wife reading this, she will probably be amused to know that ten years ago you used to proclaim that you'd likely never get married because the marriage system is unnecessary. You also said that if you did get married, you'd wait ten years before getting married, and that didn't happen either unless I meet the girl of my dreams tomorrow. If, on the other hand, you are single right now, I wonder how you feel about it. I hope you're happy either way. I imagine me today reading a message to myself from 10 years ago and I imagine I'd read it with half amusement and half embarrassment as I cringe at all the dumb things the younger me would have said. I wonder if you're doing that now. Heh. Anyway, let's see, what else might you find interesting to think about... Well, my current group of friends consists mostly of Ray, Lamothe, Phil, and Chris; and Freddy just graduated from college so he recently came back into the mix. What came of these guys? How many of them do you still associate with? I hope Ray and Freddy at the very least. I hope Lamothe is happy nowadays as well. I hope mom and dad and Mitchell are all alive and well. Dad stopped drinking 3 years ago in February, I hope you'll be celebrating 13 years next February. Mom will be turning 70 next September. Don't remind her! I wonder what Mitchell's up to. I worry about him sometimes; I truly hope everything's going well for him. What music do you listen to? I ******* love Marilyn Manson, Diabolic, Rhyme Asylum, Contact Play, Akala, Hopsin, and a bunch of other hip hop artists. I bet you still like Marilyn Manson. I bet you've played at least one Marilyn Manson song in the past 3 months. I don't think I've gone more than 3 months without playing at least one Marilyn Manson song since 2003. I stopped eating meat on October 14th and I stopped eating all animal products probably 4 weeks ago. I wonder where you'll be in regards to veganism when you read this. I know this is a super recent development in my life and there is an overwhelmingly high chance that you eat animal products today. If that is the case, take a moment to reflect on the ideals that turned you vegan. I wonder how you feel about it. If that isn't the case, ******* awesome man. I bet you're in good shape. Oh yeah, I go to the gym probably 2-3 times a week, and have gone at least that often for 3 years now. I hope you're still keeping it up. I hope you're fit. Alright time for me to go now. You should go on futureme.org and write another note for your 43 year old self in 2035 lol. This is like a thing we could do. Peace homie! P.S. I took a picture of me just now for your amusement. I know you can't see it but guess what shirt I'm wearing. Marilyn Manson's The Pale Emperor shirt. **** yeah!