Be Your Future Self: A Talk with Mirka

As the end of the calendar year approaches, it’s a time to slow down and reflect. Last week, I shared three exercises to help you look back on the past year—your achievements and the areas you’d still like to work on. If you need a reminder, you can revisit those exercises on the Montessori Institute Prague Facebook Page.

Today, I’d like to inspire you to look forward—beyond the end of 2025 and even further, to the end of 2035. But before we dive into this exercise, let me share a story with you.

On the evening of October 4, 2015, 17-year-old Jimmy Donaldson recorded four YouTube videos. At the time, Jimmy was a young student making videos about computer games. But those four videos were different. In them, Jimmy started a conversation with his future self.

In the first video, he spoke to himself six months into the future. In the second, one year ahead. In the third, five years. And in the last, 10 years into the future. When Jimmy filmed those videos, he had 8,000 YouTube subscribers. He didn’t know which college he’d go to or what he’d do afterward.

But he did have a vision. He knew who he wanted to be in six months, one year, five years, and 10 years.

In the one-year video, he told his future self: “Dude, I better have at least a million subscribers. Otherwise, your whole life was a failure.” Fast forward to October 4, 2020. It had been five years since he made that statement, and by then, he had 40 million subscribers.

Now, in December 2024, Jimmy—better known as MrBeast—has over 336 million subscribers, with numbers growing daily. He also started a charitable channel with 27 million subscribers, adopting and rebuilding an orphanage in Africa and providing food for a year.

The 17-year-old boy filming videos in his bedroom is now one of the most famous people in the world. He’s a savvy business owner, runs a multimillion-dollar company, and is wealthy beyond imagination. He even aspires to be the president of the United States.

I hope this story encourages you. Now, I’d like you to write a letter to yourself—one year from now, five years from now, and 10 years from now. Before you begin, remember: your future self will be very different from who you are today. They’ll have new skills, knowledge, priorities, and perspectives.