Letter to My Future Self
A letter to your future self is a time capsule made of words. You write down who you are right now — the worries, the plans, the things you have not said out loud — and seal it until a date you choose.
The value is not in predicting anything. It is in the gap between the person writing and the person reading, and how much that gap tells you when you finally close it.
Write to a specific person rather than to "future me". Address it to yourself at a stated age or on a stated date — to me at thirty-five, on the morning of my birthday — and the writing changes immediately. You stop making general observations about life and start telling somebody something.
Write your future self letter — freeNo account needed • Free • Encrypted
Prefer paper? Print the fill-in-the-blank template and write it by hand.
What to say in a future self letter
- 1What your ordinary day looks like right now, in unglamorous detail.
- 2What you are most worried about, named honestly.
- 3The people who are in your life this month, listed by name — this is the detail you will find hardest to reconstruct later.
- 4Something you currently believe that you suspect you will have changed your mind about.
- 5A promise you are making to yourself, and a date by which you mean it.
- 6A question you genuinely want your future self to answer.
One thing to skip: Avoid writing only about goals. In five years the goals will be the least interesting part — the texture of your ordinary life is what you will actually want back.
The difference one specific line makes
Same sentiment, two ways of saying it in a future self letter.
Most people write
“Hi future me! I hope you achieved your goals and you are happy and successful. Never give up!”
Write this instead
“It is 11 March and I am in the flat on Marsden Road with the boiler that clicks. I am afraid I have picked the wrong career and I have told nobody except this page.”
Why it works: Encouragement ages badly and is embarrassing to open. An address, a date and an honest fear is a photograph of a person, and a photograph is what you are actually posting into the future.
Three ways to open a future self letter
The first line is the hard part. Steal one of these and fill in the brackets.
“It is [date] and I am [where], writing this at [time].”
“By the time you read this, [the thing you expect] has either happened or it has not.”
“Here is what I am afraid of today, so you can tell me whether I was right.”
Future Self letter templates
Start from one of these and make it yours — they open straight into the editor.
One Year From Now
“By the time you read this, a whole year will have happened to you...”
Use this template →Promises I'm Making
“These are the promises I am making today, and I want you to hold me to them...”
Use this template →A Snapshot of Right Now
“I want you to remember exactly what this moment felt like...”
Use this template →Printable future self letter template
Two ways to print it. Fill in the blanks and the page itself becomes the letter, or take the prompt sheet and write your own version by hand.
Print it, fill the blanks in pen, and give it as it is — no copying out.
🕰️ Future Self letter
Write in the blanks. The small words under each line tell you what to reach for — cross out any line that is not true of the two of you.
Dear me, on the date this opens,
Today is the date. I am where, and my day looks like describe it, unglamorously.
The people in my life this month are list them by name.
What I am most worried about is name it honestly.
Something I currently believe that I suspect you no longer do: what.
I am promising myself the promise, by the date.
The question I want you to answer is the question.
Your name, aged age
shareloveletters.com — free letter templates. Write it online and they open a sealed envelope with their name on it.
Need a different one? Browse all free printable letter templates.
How it arrives
Write it
Edit a template, pick a theme, add photos or a song.
Share a private link
Password-protect it, or set the date it unlocks.
They open an envelope
Sealed, with their name on it, opening into your future self letter.
How ShareLove compares to FutureMe
This works because every letter on ShareLove can be sealed until a future date you choose: pick the day it opens and the private link shows a sealed envelope with a live countdown until then. Unlike FutureMe, it is completely free with no upsell, needs no account and no email verification, the content is encrypted with AES-256 at rest, and nothing is ever added to a public archive for strangers to browse. And where FutureMe only sends to yourself by email, a ShareLove letter can be addressed to someone else — your future self today, your child on their eighteenth birthday tomorrow.
Questions people ask
How do I write a letter to my future self?
Describe your life as it is today in specific detail, name what you are afraid of and hoping for, make one promise, and ask one question. Then set the date you want it to open.
What should I not write in a letter to my future self?
Skip the pep talk. Letters that spend their length encouraging a future version of you are the ones people find embarrassing to open. Facts, names, worries and dates age well; motivational language does not.
Is it really free, and do I need an account?
It is free and you can write without an account. Your letter is encrypted with AES-256 and stays sealed behind a countdown until the date you chose — no email verification, and nothing is ever published publicly.
Can I write to my future self and to someone else?
Both. Any letter can be scheduled, so you can seal one for yourself in five years and another for your daughter's eighteenth birthday.
How far in the future can I schedule the letter?
As far as you like — a year, five years, a decade or more. Set any future date and time, and the letter stays sealed behind a live countdown until it arrives, then opens with the usual envelope animation.
Other occasions
Need words to borrow? Browse our 700+ quote library or read our letter-writing guides.
Ready to write your future self letter?
Set the date, write it in one sitting, and do not edit out the parts that feel too ordinary. Those are the exact parts you will want back.
Start your future self letter