The most important meeting you can have (with yourself)
If you’ve ever worked with a therapist, you might’ve dabbled in the strange art of talking to another version of yourself.
I still remember my first time. I was 23, teary-eyed in a tiny office on the edge of San Francisco’s Tenderloin, comforting a younger me about school bullies. It felt weird. Awkward. So I shelved the idea for years. Maybe I just wasn’t ready yet.
But now? I do it all the time. Monthly, even. And this week, I took it up a notch - and invited the whole crew.
I want to share this exercise with you because it gave me a huge hit of self-belief, compassion, and clarity. Maybe it’ll do the same for you.
Here’s the setup:
Close your eyes. Picture yourself at the head of a large table. You’re about to host the most important meeting of your life.
One by one, your past selves enter the room.
First, the child version of you. She takes a seat.
Then your teenage self.
Then the young adult version.
Then it gets a little heavier:
In walks the most broken version of you.
Behind her, the version who hid who she really was.
And finally, she arrives. The future you. The one who has it all figured out. She’s everything you’d hoped she’d be.
Now here’s the magic part:
Turn to each of your past selves. One by one, ask: What do you need to hear right now? Then give it to them. Love, reassurance, understanding - whatever they’re asking for.
When you're done, look at your future self. Ask her:
What does your life look like?
What did you do to get there?
What’s stopping me doing that now?
Because she’s already in you. You can visualize her. You are her; you just have to step into her shoes.
This exercise gave me a deep sense of how far I’ve come, and a quiet but powerful confidence in where I’m going next, especially in business.
Maybe it’s what you need too - so are you going to take the meeting?
NEED SOME HELP TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS EXERCISE?
Don’t rush it. Let each version arrive fully before moving on. You might be surprised what comes up.
Imagine their clothes, posture, facial expressions - bring them to life in your mind.
If it’s hard to sit in silence, write out the conversation in your journal instead. Ask and answer as each version. I found it really helped to take notes during this exercise!
Be kind to yourself - every version! They all deserve your compassion even if it’s hard to face them.
When you’ve finished talking to all the different versions of you, spend some extra time with future you. She’s not a fantasy, she’s already part of you! Get familiar with her and let her be your guide!