Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
Be Your Future Self Now summary
Dr. Benjamin Hardy
The Science of Intentional Transformation
4.6 (450 ratings)
16 mins
7 key ideas
Audio & text
What is Be Your Future Self Now about?
Be Your Future Self Now (2022) is a guide to defining your future self – and making sure you get there. It walks readers through the seven threats to your future self, the seven truths about your future self, and the seven steps you can take to be your future self today.
About the Author
Dr. Benjamin Hardy is an American organizational psychologist and coauthor of The Gap and The Gain and Who Not How. Before completing his PhD in entrepreneurial courage in 2019, Dr. Hardy’s blog was read by over 100 million people worldwide. Since then, his work has been featured in publications such as the New York Times and Harvard Business Review.
Table of Contents
Be Your Future Self Now
summarized in 7 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 7
Section One: All in the Narrative
When Hardy was 16, his family piled into the car for a five-hour drive to visit a friend. But halfway in, his mom grew tired. Hardy was a freshly minted driver at the time, so volunteered to take the wheel and let his mom rest. She fell asleep within minutes.
As night fell, Hardy entered a section of road under construction. He drove attentively, but could never have known that just ahead, a long stretch of construction barrier had fallen out of place. When the car hit the unguarded patch of rubble, it spun, flipped, and landed on the opposite side of the road. The next thing Hardy remembered seeing was his mom strewn across the road, 50 feet from the car.
His mom was flown to an intensive unit and lay in a coma for weeks. Her sons weren’t sure she’d survive. Mercifully, she did regain consciousness, but was kept in a body cast for over a year and remained in constant agony for the following two decades.
While Hardy’s family struggled to talk about the accident for several years, his mom chose to frame the incident as a pivotal moment that clarified her purpose in life: raising her three boys. She became softer, more compassionate, and went out of her way to express gratitude for the little things. Rather than growing into a bitter future self, she grew into a better future self.
Your past experiences can pose a major threat to your future self if viewed negatively. In fact, research shows that specific events don’t matter nearly as much as the meaning assigned to them.
Your hardest moments can be your most transformative teachers – if you let them. When you own your experiences, rather than them owning you, you can craft a narrative that powerfully serves your future self.
So when tragedy next strikes, remember Dr. Hardy’s mom. Choose a story that makes you better, not bitter.
Want to see all full key ideas from Be Your Future Self Now?
Key ideas in Be Your Future Self Now
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
Who should read Be Your Future Self Now
- Those ready to take their careers and lives to the next level
- Individuals seeking clarity on their future
- Anyone frustrated by unsuccessful New Year’s resolutions
Categories with Be Your Future Self Now
Books like Be Your Future Self Now
What our members say
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
Start growing with Blinkist now
25 Million
Downloads on all platforms
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
91%
Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
*Based on survey data from Blinkist customers