7 Great Reasons To Write Yourself A Letter

And January is the perfect time...

Jan 16, 2024

♬ I’m gonna sit right down
and write myself a letter…” ♬
Written by Fred Ahlert / Joseph Young

I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions, but I do believe in goal-setting and reflecting on aspirations. Being a letter writer, I love to write myself occasional letters, either in my journal or in a real letter, tucked away to read later and remind myself of my earlier thoughts and hopes.

I was delighted to find an online service called FutureMe.org that makes it easy and convenient to write yourself a letter that will be returned to you at whatever interval you specify. It’s free, but for only $5 a year as a Premium Member, you can get more features, including the removal of all advertising, the ability to add pictures to your letters, and to ask for our support team to help you find any long lost letters.

So what are some great reasons to write yourself a letter?

1) Processing:

It will help you capture and process your thoughts and aspirations so they become actionable possibilities instead of high-flying, random bits of energy that fly by and are forgotten.

2) Clarification:

It helps to clarify your thoughts and ideas, making your goals and plans more concrete and actionable.

3) Accountability:

It will help you hold yourself accountable for goals that require action on your part.

4) Emotional Expression:

It’s a way to express your emotions freely, which can be therapeutic. It's a safe space to acknowledge your feelings, fears, and hopes.

5) Tracking Progress:

What you write to yourself can act as a benchmark for tracking your progress, especially on goals. Comparing your state of mind when you write the letter with where you are when you read the letter can be revealing. Your progress can be the basis for celebration at the end of the year—or perhaps motivation to shift gears.

6) Motivation and Inspiration:

Reading the letter later in the year can serve as a source of motivation and inspiration, reminding you of your aspirations and encouraging you to stay on track.

7) Creation of a Personal Record:

If you write yourself at least once a year, your letters become a diary/journal and a record of how you changed, matured, and evolved over time.

Why is January a great time to write yourself a letter?

It’s traditionally (in most cultures) a time for new beginnings and goal setting…a time for reflecting on the past and imagining the future.
For many, this is a seasonal downtime that might afford you a few more quiet moments than usual.
After the holidays, you may be in need of a physical and emotional reset in January.

I never make as much progress with my goals as I’d like, but as Gretchen Rubin urges us in her terrific book about habits, the best goal is just to be “better than before.” CLICK HERE for my review of her book.

Here’s the letter I wrote to myself in January, 2023 and had it pop back as a reminder at the beginning of every month.

Dear FutureMe,

How are you doing with:

Drinking water
Making healthy eating choices
Moving more
Sleeping more

No beating yourself up. What's a small thing you can do to feel you've made progress next month?

Love,

Elizabeth

I’ll bet some of you already write letters or make journal entries to yourself (If so, leave a comment below!). If not, give it a try and see if it doesn’t help you focus and increase the chances of those dreams for your future coming true.

COMING UP: Pivot and refresh…

I’ve been doing my own beginning-of-year reflection and soul-searching. While I still want to focus in 2024 on spreading the Heartspoken Movement to encourage and inspire more writers to write more notes and letters, I don’t want to neglect my retired husband, 98-year-old mother, and my own practice of writing heartspoken notes. So for the next three months, I’m going to try a new pattern of posting that will still support you in your epistolary life but require a little less time on my end.

Week 1: Motivational or fun quotes about note writing

Week 2: An article such as this one and like those I posted weekly last year.

Week 3: Shared content I find to enrich your note and letter writing life — this might be a guest post, a spotlight on someone, a book review, or a surprise!

Week 4: A short post highlighting the next month’s calendar for note and letter writers and noting any special activities or events. I’ll include a note-writing prompt or nudge!

NEXT WEEK:

Don’t miss next week’s delightful guest post on the hidden treasures of found paper stationery, written by Christine Richards of The Waystation Whistle. If you haven’t already, subscribe now so you’ll get it delivered straight to your Inbox.

BEFORE YOU GO

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