Letter to your future Self Unlike most year-end writing pieces, the focus of this endeavor is on the future, not the past. Reflection on the past year(s) is helpful in gathering your thoughts for this letter, but that is not your end goal.

Consider your short term, middle range and long term goals from our previous two goal-related assignments (Intro Letter/Mid-Year Reflection). Consider how close you are to your first goal in relation to where you wanted to be in September. Have things changed? How so? For what reason? How do you feel about that?

Original Goal-Setting Assignment : A reminder…

Joseph Campbell and The Hero’s Journey The Hero’s Journey is the typical hero sequence of actions detected in stories throughout history, essentially the one deed done by many, in the cycle of departure, fulfillment and return. The basic motif of the hero’s journey: leaving one condition, finding the source of life to bring you forth in a richer or more mature or “other” condition.

The first stage of the journey is leaving the light (the known) and moving to the threshold of the unknown, where the monster / abyss comes to meet you. This can be seen also in initiation rituals; the child has to give up his childhood and become an adult; has to die to its infantile psyche and personality to become a self- responsible adult (a fundamental experience under which everyone has to go)

How does this apply to you? You are a high school senior, heading to college, the military or seeking employment, contemplating what to do with your future, where you’ll live, what you’ll study, who you’ll leave behind…

You are leaving the known…

To help you embark on your journey, you’ll first need to consider where you’re heading. However, in order to do this successfully, you need to consider your eventual return. Where would you like to be at that point in your journey, the point at which you return “home”?

Goals The objective here is twofold: 1)To force you to formalize a post-high school path on which you set yourself Long term goals will then dictate your short term goals Verbalizing where you need to be, eventually, will help you to take the first step this year in reaching that goal

Where are you going?

2)Considering these points will give you insight into your personal critical thinking abilities, especially in light of your chosen path. This allows you to guide yourself more effectively when embarking on the next leg of your journey. This also enables you to openly contemplate where you hope to be sometime in the future, and help keep you focused on that path.

Goal Setting 1.Short term goal: Where do you want to be this time next year? 2.Middle range goal: Where do you see yourself in five years? 3.Long term goal: Where do you see yourself in the long run? This could be where you see yourself when you’re fifty, when you retire, when you’re eighty or more. Pick a point at which you’d like to be able to look back and say “I accomplished this” …and you feel fulfilled because of that accomplishment.

Take control of your journey

Now, write a letter to your future self—you will receive this letter in four years— expressing your hopes, fears and wishes for your own future, especially in relation to what you’ve wished for yourself at this point in time.

I hope That the sight of the envelope in your mailbox brings a smile to your face in 2019.