Advice for my future self as a person and as an OT

Gypsy love — What does the future hold ?

Hi everyone ! We are nearing the end of 2020. What a wild ride this has been. I hope that everyone is giving it their all till the end. Sadly this will be my last blog post for the year but as a great man once said …

… fresh and rejuvenated to tackle my 4^th year of OT.

I think todays topic is very fitting as my last blog post for the year. Today we will be doing some introspection, attempting to do a self analysis and then giving our future self a cheat-sheet or survival guide for navigating life. Who knows you best other than yourself, right. Below is a link for a template of writing a letter to my future self with some prompts to assist you in the writing process. It is also a free printable so you can keep a hard copy for your future self ! In the link section there is also a website that provides an interactive platform for people to share the letters they have written their future selves.

While thinking about the advice I would give to my future self being an OT I couldn’t help but analyze this activity. I found it very therapeutic and it felt like a self-care type of task. I first started by looking at my present self and writing down my strengths and weakness. This process definitely helped me improve insight into my abilities and was a confidence booster. I then focused on my weaknesses, then created tips on how to improve on these for the future.

So here is my letter.

Dear future Nivashni

Here’s a cheat-sheet of tailored made advice for you.

1. Do not forget to be mindful. Practice some form of mindfulness as a form of self care. Pause, be in the present moment and notice all that is around you. Most importantly do not forget to appreciate and be grateful for all the small things in life. It will definitely help on those bad days to uplift your mood. With mindfulness comes self care, listen to your body and mind and replenish what is lacking. if you don’t take care of yourself you can’t give your best to your clients.

2. Do not stop learning. Remember when your Grade 12 English teacher would say READ,READ, READ…well she was right. Don’t stop reading, learning and absorbing knowledge from wherever you can be it your peers, reading journal articles or going for courses. By doing this you will be providing the best treatment to clients.

3. Manage your time better. Do not leave things for the last minute!!! Listen carefully Nivashni you do not work better under pressure, stop lying to yourself. Be more organized. Start making lists. Once you do this, you be amazed at the amount of time you have been wasting by procrastinating.

4. You are not perfect but embrace that. Do not strive for perfection in life, it will kill you. The thought of not doing something perfectly prevents you from actually starting the task. Rather do the best you can and put all your energy into whatever you are doing. You’re best is the best.

5. Do not panic! Try to stop being the nervous nelly and instead go with the flow. Don’t get so flustered every time things don’t go as planned. Embrace the change, the obstacles and mistakes that you make.

To all the reader you are inspired by this post to create a letter to your future self. We all do not know what the future holds and that’s what makes life exciting. Your past has shaped you into what you are now but that doesn’t mean you cannot change and grow. To prepare for the unpredictable future it’s a good idea to draw up a cheat sheet of all the things you have learnt. Share the knowledge you have with your future self.

I will end with an extract of a beautiful piece of poetry titled “New beginnings” by Lang Leav, “If I have learned anything this year, it is that I won’t ever be ready for what life throws at me. I won’t have the right words when it counts; I won’t know what to choose when fate itself is staring me down, But now I know I don’t always need to have the right answers.”

Links:

DIY Dear Future Self Letter (free printable)