Talk Your Bookby Scribe Media
Guide

How to write a letter to your future self: what to say, 40 prompts, a template and two examples

A letter to your future self is a snapshot of who you are today, written for the person you will be in a year, five years or ten. The ones worth opening are specific: what your days look like, what you are worried about, what you hope for. Here is how to write one, with prompts, a template, two short examples and ways to keep it safe until the date.

By Scribe MediaPublished November 2, 20266 minute read

On this page

  1. Choose when it will be opened
  2. What to include
  3. 40 prompts
  4. A fill-in template
  5. Two example letters
  6. How to seal, store or record it

1. Choose when it will be opened

Decide the open date before you write, because it changes what is worth saying.

  • One year: a good first letter. Write about this year's goals, worries and routines, then check what changed.
  • Five years: a career, a move, children growing up. Write about who you are and who you hope to be.
  • Ten years or more: write for a stranger who happens to be you. Include the small details you are sure you will remember. You will not.
  • A milestone: a graduation, a fortieth birthday, retirement, a child leaving home.

2. What to include

  1. The scene. The date, where you are sitting, what is on the table, what the weather is like.
  2. Your life right now. A normal day, the people you see most, what you do for work, what you do for fun, what things cost.
  3. What is on your mind. The worry that keeps you up and the thing you are excited about.
  4. Hopes and questions. What you hope has changed, and questions only your future self can answer.
  5. Something kind. Advice, forgiveness or encouragement you suspect you will need.

3. 40 prompts

Right now

  1. Today's date is ___ and I am writing this at ___.
  2. A normal weekday for me looks like this:
  3. The people I spend the most time with are:
  4. The song, show or book I can't stop talking about is:
  5. Something I bought recently, and what it cost:
  6. The thing I am proudest of this year is:
  7. The thing I am most worried about is:
  8. Something that made me laugh this week:
  9. A small habit of mine I hope I still have:
  10. A small habit of mine I hope I've dropped:

For one year from now

  1. By the time you read this, I hope you have finished ___.
  2. Did the thing I'm worried about happen? Was it as bad as I thought?
  3. Are you still friends with ___?
  4. What did you learn this year that I don't know yet?
  5. Did you keep the promise I'm making today, which is ___?
  6. What surprised you most about this year?
  7. What would you tell me to stop worrying about?
  8. Where did you go that you had never been?
  9. What is one thing you started this year?
  10. What is one thing you let go of?

For five years from now

  1. Where are you living, and what do you see out the window?
  2. What does your work look like now?
  3. Who is new in your life?
  4. What do you know about money now that I don't?
  5. Which of today's goals turned out not to matter?
  6. What did you finally get brave enough to do?
  7. How is your health, and how do you take care of it?
  8. What would the people closest to me say has changed about me?
  9. What are you still working on?
  10. What do you wish you had started five years ago, today?

For ten years or more

  1. Here is what our family looks like today:
  2. Here is what I believe about ___ right now. Do you still?
  3. The best advice anyone has given me so far is:
  4. A memory from this year I want you to keep:
  5. What I hope you have forgiven yourself for:
  6. What I hope you never stop doing:
  7. If you could tell me one thing tonight, what would it be?
  8. What I want you to remember about who you were at ___ years old:
  9. Someone I want you to call when you read this:
  10. The one thing I hope you are still proud of:

4. A fill-in template

Dear me,

It is [date], and I am writing this at [place]. Right now my days look like [a normal day]. The people I see most are [names].

What is on my mind: I am worried about [worry] and excited about [hope].

By the time you read this, I hope you have [goal]. I want to know: [two or three questions].

Here is something I want you to hear: [advice or kindness].

Open this on [open date]. Love, me at [age].

5. Two example letters

One year out: "Dear me, it's a rainy Sunday and I'm at the kitchen table with cold coffee. Right now I'm three chapters into the book about Grandpa's farm and I'm scared I'll never finish it. If you're reading this and it's done, I want to know which chapter was hardest. If it isn't done, that's all right. Pick it back up tonight and write one page. Also: call Aunt Ruth. Love, me at 52."

Ten years out: "Dear me at 40, you're reading this in a world I can't picture. Today I'm 30, I just started the new job, and Maya is learning to ride her bike in the parking lot outside. I hope you remember how she shouted 'Don't let go!' and then rode off without noticing I already had. I hope you still take the long way home. And I hope you've stopped apologizing for things that aren't your fault. Love, me."

Example letters written by Scribe Media; the names are invented.

6. How to seal, store or record it

  • Paper: seal it in an envelope, write "Do not open until [date]" on the front, and keep it with your important papers. Put a reminder in your calendar for the open date.
  • Email: some email services let you schedule a message to send on a date you choose. Check how far ahead yours allows, and keep a copy somewhere else too.
  • Recording: if writing feels stiff, talk it. Record yourself answering five or six prompts on your phone, name the file with the open date, and save a transcript next to it. The guide to recording on an iPhone covers the setup, and transcription options compares ways to get the text.

Writing for someone else instead? See a letter to your son or daughter and what an ethical will is.

Start here: choose your open date, then answer prompts 1, 7 and 11. That is the core of your letter, and it takes ten minutes.

Common questions

What should I write in a letter to my future self?

Where you are right now (your days, your worries, what you love), what you hope will have changed, a few questions for your future self to answer, and some advice or kindness you want to hear later. Specific details matter most, because they are what you will forget.

How far in the future should I open it?

One year is a good first letter: long enough for things to change, short enough that you will remember to open it. Five and ten years work well for milestones such as a graduation, a big birthday or a new job. Write the open date on the envelope.

How do I start a letter to my future self?

Start with the date and a plain sentence about where you are as you write: "Dear me, it is a Tuesday night in November and I am writing this at the kitchen table." Setting the scene makes the rest easier to write and more vivid to read later.

How long should a letter to your future self be?

One or two pages is plenty. A short letter you actually finish and keep is worth more than a long one you never seal.

Can I record a letter to my future self instead?

Yes. Record yourself answering a few prompts on your phone, save it with the open date in the file name, and keep a transcript with it. Hearing your own voice from years ago is part of what makes it worth opening.

Sources: the prompts, template, example letters and guidance were written by Scribe Media for this guide; no outside statistics or quotations are used. Published by Scribe Media.