How many evenings have you resolved to start a productive, new habit the next morning? I, for one, have lost count. After a day of unsatisfactory progress, it is very easy for our evening selves to make a grand resolution about how we will begin to live our lives tomorrow. And like clockwork, the morning arrives—sooner than we thought, or perhaps hoped, it would.
The alarm rings. Believe me, I’ve made all the same excuses. I’m tired. I’m hungry. I don’t have enough time. I have to get to work. It was a long night. And just like that, the resolution that we made less than ten hours ago is forgotten.
But why is this?
A famous aphorism, attributed to Greek philosopher Heraclitus, states, "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man."
Morning you and evening you are not the same person. While both of you want long-term future you to be strong, happy, and successful—both of you, by human nature, are uncomfortable doing hard things. Instead, both morning you and evening you favor pushing their burdens onto each other.
Evening you didn’t have a great day. You meant to exercise in the morning, but didn’t. You would exercise tonight, but it’s been a long day. So, convinced that you are the same you all of the time, evening you resolves that morning you will exercise as soon as you get up.
Morning you didn’t have a great night. Work was long, you wanted to exercise last night, but didn’t, and you fell asleep an hour later than you wanted. You would exercise this morning, but it was a long night. So, convinced that you are the same you all of the time, morning you resolves that evening you will exercise as soon as you get home.
And the cycle repeats. The predictability is laughable, and yet the impact is severe. How is anything going to change if we can’t maintain our conviction over time? We need a way to connect the loop in our minds across days.
Beautifully, there are many subtle ways to start doing this for ourselves.
For example, I keep a daily log of progress on my personal projects. I document the time spent, what I did, and how I felt before, while, and after working. Most critically, the final line in each log entry requires me to fill in the following blank: "In the next session, I will..." And then, my first act in the next session is to read what I wrote, preserving my momentum over time. Morning me and evening me stay connected because they talk to each other.
Whether it’s writing for your future self, performing the same act (e.g. listening to the same hype song or motivational podcast) every morning or evening, or finding ways to empathize with your past self (e.g. "they really needed this, and thus so will I if I don’t do this now"), connecting the loop is how we avoid cyclic, self-inflicted procrastination.
While morning you and evening you will never be the same person, both of you can absolutely work together.
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Credit to my father, David, for bringing this idea to life in my mind.