This “Letter to Your Future Self — 90 Days” workshop grew out of a participatory workshop I created for my solo exhibition
COLLECTIVE SELF.
You imagine yourself 90 days from now and leave a letter with your thoughts and feelings from today.
By looking toward the future, you may begin to see your present self a little differently.
It is a small self-guided workshop you can do on your own.
This workshop may be for you if...
- You have something you want to do, but have not been able to start
- You keep saying, “I’ll do it someday”
- You would like to imagine yourself a little further into the future
- You want to leave a record of how you feel today
- You would like to send a few words to your future self
- You want to take a little time to reflect on yourself
This workshop is not only about achieving a goal.
You can simply say hello to your future self or leave a few words about how you feel today.
All you need is paper, a pen, and an envelope.
When you open the letter 90 days from now, how will the person you are today look to you then?
Enjoy that small sense of anticipation, and feel free to give it a try.
What is a 90-day letter to your future self?
We often think,
“Someday I would like to do this,”
without deciding when that “someday” might be.
In this workshop, we choose a future that is not too far away:
90 days from today.
Three months may be too short to completely transform your life.
But it can be an interesting amount of time to begin something new
or to move forward with something that has been stuck for a long time.
I tried this workshop myself.
I decided that within 90 days,
I would finally organize the body of artwork I had been putting off dealing with for a long time.
About 90 days later, I had organized more than 230 works,
assigned inventory numbers,
and entered them into a digital database.
Writing a letter does not guarantee that something will be achieved.
But in my case,
imagining myself 90 days in the future changed
“I’ll do it someday” into
“I’ll try to do it during these 90 days.”
Read about my own 90-day experience
I also wrote a letter to my future self and opened it 90 days later.
In this reflection, I look back on what changed, what did not,
and how the experience connected to my artistic practice and the idea of
COLLECTIVE SELF.
How this workshop connects to COLLECTIVE SELF
In COLLECTIVE SELF,
I explore the idea that the self is not something fixed.
Memories, experiences, relationships, encounters,
and everyday events overlap and continually shape who we are.
And this present moment is also becoming one of the fragments
that will shape who we are in the future.
Past Self → Present Self → Future Self
These selves do not exist separately.
They are connected through time.
So this workshop is not only about looking toward the future.
By imagining your future self, you begin to look again at who you are now.
Then, 90 days later,
your present self meets the words left behind by your past self.
For me, experiencing this overlap of time
is also part of the idea behind COLLECTIVE SELF.
How to write a letter to your future self in 5 steps
You do not need any special preparation.
Find a little quiet time and imagine yourself 90 days from now.
There is no correct answer,
and your writing does not need to be beautiful.
Simply leave your future self the thoughts you have today.
What you need
You only need three things.
You do not need special stationery.
A page from a notebook, a sheet of writing paper,
or any paper you like is fine.
1｜Choose a date 90 days from today
First, find the date approximately 90 days from today.
You can use any online date calculator by searching for
“90 days from today.”
Write that date on the envelope as the
“Open on” date.
The important point is to choose the date now,
instead of deciding that you will open the letter “someday.”
2｜Imagine yourself 90 days from now
Before writing the letter,
take a moment to imagine your future self.
You might begin with these questions:
How would you like to feel 90 days from now?
Is there something you want to do but have not started yet?
Is there something you keep saying you will do “someday”?
Would you be happy if it had moved forward a little in 90 days?
Is there anything you want to tell your future self from where you are today?
You do not need to answer every question.
If even one of them stays with you,
begin your letter from there.
3｜Write a letter to your future self
There is no required format.
If you are not sure how to begin,
you can use something like this:
Dear me, 90 days from now,
Right now, I have been thinking about...
Something I want to do but have not been able to start is...
In 90 days, I hope I will be...
I do not need to have done everything,
but I would be happy if something had moved forward, even a little.
This is only an example.
You are free to write whatever you want.
You do not need to write a goal.
You can write a greeting to your future self,
something that made you happy,
something you are worried about,
or simply how you feel today.
Leave a small record of who you are now.
4｜Add today’s date and “I AM HERE”
When you finish your letter,
write today’s date.
Then add the words:
I AM HERE
Although the letter is written toward the future,
it is also a record saying,
“I was here, today.”
5｜Seal the letter and keep it for 90 days
Place the letter in an envelope and write:
“Open on [date]”
on the front.
Keep it somewhere safe,
such as a bookshelf, drawer, or box.
It can also help to add
“Open my future-self letter”
to your phone or calendar on that date.
You will not have the surprise of receiving something in the mail,
but this simple method costs nothing and allows you to begin today.
The important thing is:
once you seal the envelope, try not to read it again until the opening date.
Opening it after you have almost forgotten what you wrote
may help you notice the difference between who you were 90 days ago
and who you are now.
Other ways to send something to your future self
Keeping the letter yourself is the simplest method,
but there are also services that store and mail letters in the future,
as well as digital services that send messages or emails on a future date.
If you like the idea of receiving something unexpectedly
after you have almost forgotten about it,
you may enjoy using one of those services.
Because available services and prices may change,
please check the latest information before using one.
“I AM HERE” cards created during the COLLECTIVE SELF workshop
During the COLLECTIVE SELF workshop,
participants wrote letters to their future selves
and also created small cards using fragments of collage.
Each card includes the date it was created
and the words “I AM HERE.”
Even though we shared the same place and time,
each person chose a different fragment.
I have gathered the cards anonymously in an online archive.
For me, they are also a record of meeting the participants
and sharing the same moment during the exhibition.
Meet the words of your past self 90 days later
Writing a letter to your future self is not about predicting the future,
and it is not a method that guarantees you will achieve a goal.
It is simply a way to leave a little of what you are thinking and feeling today
for a future version of yourself.
Then, 90 days later,
you meet those words again.
Some things may have changed.
Other things may be exactly the same.
But noticing those differences can become an opportunity
to see your own passage through time in a new way.
Who you are today is also one of the fragments
that will shape who you become.
What would you like to tell yourself 90 days from now?
I would love to hear what you discover 90 days later
When you open the letter 90 days from now
and meet the words written by your past self,
what do you notice?
If you experience a small change, realization,
or simply see yourself differently,
I would be happy to hear about it.
This “Letter to Your Future Self — 90 Days” workshop is an original self-guided program developed by Akemi Kodama from the
COLLECTIVE SELF project and participatory workshop practice.
It is shared for personal, individual use only.
Unauthorized reproduction, redistribution, modification, commercial use,
or use of the text, workshop structure, name, original prompts,
materials, or visuals in workshops, classes, courses,
or other programs is prohibited.
