NEW: Plant Yourself merch designed by my daughter, Yael Zivan.

Hal Hershfield on Befriending Our Future Selves: PYP 191

Hal Hershfield is a UCLA psychology professor, and author of some really interesting studies on the connection between what we do now and how we think about the future.

Specifically, he's shown through brain scans that the more we think of our future selves as a person different from ourselves (and most of us do), the less we're willing to sacrifice today to help that future self.

In other words, if I think of my future self as a stranger, I'm likely to reason as follows when it's time to leap out of bed and pull on my running clothes.

“Why should I exercise today and make my present self (aka ME) tired and sore, when it will benefit some old guy named Howie in about 10 years? What has that old fart ever done for me?”

Whereas, if I'm able to identify (or even empathize with) my future self, I'm much more likely to do nice stuff for him, like say no to that chocolate cake.

I first discovered Hal's work through my friend and teacher Peter Bregman's Leadership Podcast, and wanted to continue the conversation that Peter began and relate it specifically to health and wellness domains.

We covered:

  • why Hal tried hard to avoid psychology as a profession, and how that turned out 😉
  • how he became fascinated with concepts of time
  • thinking about retirement as a 24-year-old
  • viewing self-control vs temptation as a negotiation of tradeoffs between now and later
  • why the present usually wins
  • the brain's “me vs not-me” detector
  • how different languages shape our view of time and possibility
  • the powerful ways language can support or undermine our goals (“I'm a healthy eater” vs “I eat healthy”)
  • can behavior be altered by changing our views of our future selves
  • the challenge of “blink of an eye” increase in human life expectancy from an evolutionary perspective
  • the magic of age-progressed images
  • how Dutch teens reduced delinquency when they befriended their future self on Facebook
  • do future images showing weight loss motivate or demotivate?
  • the power of combining positive and negative emotions in living a healthy and happy life
  • the ultimate future self: us on our deathbeds
  • how psychedelics can break down psychological barriers and allow us to step into the minds of our future selves
  • and much more…

Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.

Links

Hal Herschfield's academic web hub

Hal's TEDx Talk (Ironically, my pre-roll YouTube ad was a McDonald's commercial)

Seeing is believing: The effect of brain images on judgments of scientific reasoning, by McCabe and Castel

Lera Boroditsky's presentation on How Language Shapes Thought

Keith Chen's TED Talk: Could Your Language Affect Your Ability to Save Money?

Support the Podcast

Like what you hear? You can contribute to the growth and improvement of the podcast by becoming a patron. Click the “Support on Patreon” or “Donate” buttons on the right to help out.

Gratitudes

Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons
– Kim Harrison
– Lynn McLellan
– Anthony Dissen
– Brittany Porter
– Dominic Marro
– Elizabeth Clifton
– Barbara Whitney
– Tammy Black
– Amy Good
– Amanda Hatherly
– Mary Jane Wheeler
– Ellen Kennelly
– Melissa Cobb
– Rachel Behrens
– Christine Nielsen
– Tina Scharf
– Tina Ahern
– Jen Vilkinofsky
– David Byczek
– Michele X
– Elspeth Feldman
– Viktoriya Dolomanova
– Leah Stolar
– Allan Kristensen
– Colleen Peck
– Michele Landry
– Jozina
– Julianne Rowland
– Stu Dolnick
– Sara Durkacs (rhymes with circus)
– Kelly Cameron
– Wayne Pedersen
–  Leanne Peterson
– Janet Selby
– Claire Adams
– Tom Fronczak
for your generous support of the podcast.

Ready to embark on your Big Change journey?

Are you tired of knowing what to do, and still not doing it consistently? The Big Change Program, led by Josh LaJaunie and myself, will help you take the steps to finally live according to your knowledge and values.

Last 10 days to join! Take a test drive and sign up here.

Ask your questions or share your feedback

Comment on the show notes for this episode (below)

Connect with me

Subscribe, rate, and review in iTunes
Join the Plant Yourself Facebook Page

Music

The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.

It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.

You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.

Disclosure

This post may contain amazon affiliate links. I may receive amazon gift certificates from your actions on such links.

Dr Howie Jacobson

This podcast is a labor of love and a way to give back to the world that has given me so much. That's why there aren't any sponsors (except me :).

My day job is helping leaders and their teams master their mindsets to remove all obstacles to heart-centered high performance.

Here are three gigs that I do:

1. Executive and Senior Leadership Mentoring and Facilitation

I work with high performing executive teams in organizations — and executive teams that need to become high  performing. My focus is mindset mastery, because it’s our mindsets that either support high performance or get in the way.

At this level, everyone’s got the skills and experience to excel and contribute at the highest level. What holds people back is mindset stuff: specifically the triggers that get them out of creative engagement and into fight-or-flight defensiveness.

My practice is all about teaching people to respond differently to those triggers by updating old maps — essentially removing the glitches that the triggers grab onto.

2. Executive Coaching: Quick Wins for High Performance

I work with individual executives and leaders, one on one. The program is called Quick Wins for High Performance, and what we do is, we work strategically on one or two areas that are holding you back and keeping you from performing at your best.

We reverse engineer the presenting problems — too much work and not enough time, underperforming employees and teams, maddening organizational inefficiencies, etc — and identify and rewire the suboptimal mindsets that are behind those problems.

The work is all about updating your mental maps so your actions and responses are always appropriate, proportionate, and strategic.

3. High Stakes Conversations for Fast Growing Small Business Teams

I help small business teams have high stakes conversations with skill, humor, and grace. When people feel safe, they can do their best, most creative, most collaborative work.

So that's what I do. If you'd like any of those results, drop me a line and tell me about yourself.

You CAN Change Other People!

Well, that's what Peter Bregman and I claim in our provocative book of that title.

What we really mean is, you can bring out the best in the people around you. If you think you're powerless to help people change, it's because you've been going about it the wrong way.

Discover our straightforward, replicable process here: You Can Change Other People.

 

Music

The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.

It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.

You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.

Gratitudes

Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons – Kim Harrison – Lynn McLellan – Brittany Porter – Dominic Marro – Barbara Whitney – Tammy Black – Amy Good – Amanda Hatherly – Mary Jane Wheeler – Ellen Kennelly – Melissa Cobb – Rachel Behrens – Tina Scharf – Tina Ahern – Jen Vilkinofsky – David Byczek – Michele X – Elspeth Feldman – Leah Stolar – Allan Kristensen – Colleen Peck – Michele Landry – Jozina – Sara Durkacs – Kelly Cameron – Janet Selby – Claire Adams – Tom Fronczak – Jeannette Benham – Gila Lacerte – David Donohue – Blair Seibert – Doron Avizov – Gio and Carolyn Argentati – Jodi Friesner – Mischa Rosen – Michael Worobiec – AvIvA Lael – Alicia Lemus – Val Linnemann – Nick Harper – Bandana Chawla – Molly Levine – The Inscrutable Harry R – Susan Laverty the Panda Vegan – Craig Covic – Adam Scharf – Karen Bury – Heather Morgan – Nigel Davies – Marian Blum – Teresa Kopel – Julian Watkins – Brid O'Connell – Shannon Herschman – Linda Ayotte – Holm Hedegaard – Isa Tousignant – Connie Haneline – Erin Greer – Alicia Davis – Heather O'Connor – Carollynne Jensen – Sheri Orlekoski of Plant Powered for Health – Karen Smith – Scott Mirani – Karen and Joe Crabtree – Kirby Burton – Theresa Carrell – Kevin Macaulay – Elizabeth Rothschild – Ann Jesse – Sheryl Dwyer – Jenny Hazelton – Peter W Evans – Dennis Bird – Darby Kelly – Lori Fanney – Linnea Lundquist – Emily Iaconelli – Levi Wallach – Rosamonde McAtee – Dan Pokorney – Stephen Leinin – Patty DeMartino – Mike and Donna Kartz – Deanne Bishop – Bilberry Elf – Marjorie Lewis – Tricia Adams – Nancy Sheldon – Lindsey Bashore – Gunn Marit Hagen – Tracey Gulledge – Lara Hedin – Meg from Mamasezz – Stacey Stokes – Ben Savage – Michael K – David Hughes -Coni Rodgers – Claire England – Sally Robertson – Parham Ganchi – Amy Dailey – Brian Tourville – Mark Jeffrey Johnson – Josie Dempsey – Caryn Schmitt – Pamela Hayden – Emily Perryman – Allison Corbett – Richard Stone – Lauren Vaught of Edible Musings – Erin Hastey – Sean Owens – Sagar Naik – Erika Piedra – Danielle Roberts – Michael Leuchten – Sarah Johnson – Katharine Floyd – Meryl Fury – for your generous support of the podcast.

Disclosure

This post may contain amazon affiliate links. I may receive compensation from your actions on such links. It don't cost you a dime, tho.

5 comments on “Hal Hershfield on Befriending Our Future Selves: PYP 191

  1. John Dettloff says:

    Dear Howard,

    Although the show notes are posted for PYP 191, the audio does not seem to be. It’s neither on the web page nor coming up in my podcatcher. Have I missed something or is this a genuine oversight?

    Thank you so much for all your outstanding work. I really look forward to listening to you and your guests each week (which is why I went and checked for the show when it didn’t appear on its usual day).

    Warmest wishes,
    John

    1. Howard says:

      Thanks for the heads-up, John! I forgot to attach the podcast audio to the post. Fixed now 🙂

  2. Christine Nielsen says:

    Hi Howard, Your Wellness Weekly email today really cracked me up. Thanks for that!

  3. Tricia Adams says:

    Hi – Really enjoyed this discussion with Hal Hershfield (which is probably the tenth of your podcasts I have listened to this week) To follow on the comments about “eating healthy” vs “being a healthy eater,” I have noticed on my recent journey to a Whole Foods/Plant Based lifestyle that people who Identify themselves as Vegan (for ethical reasons) have Zero problem being 100% adherent to their eating plan from Day 1 whereas we WFPB No SOS folks who changed after watching Forks Over Knives can have daily battles with food choices. We feel as if we are surrounded by temptation. The prsent day self and t he future self are closely connected for the ethical vegan – they don’t need to engage in cost-benefit analysis or look to willpower when faced with temptation. In fact, animal food products don’t even represent temptation any more since their identity as a vegan (present and future) is so secure. So it would seem wise to promote a close, empahetic (even symbiotic) relationship with Future Healthy Howie instead of Howie the Old Fart!

    1. Howard says:

      Yes, compliance becomes second nature when we assume an identity. The challenge that ethical vegans face is saying no to vegan junk food, because there’s nothing in their animal rights stance against soy meats and canola cupcakes.

      I think the ticket is to start a WFPB religion… 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *