The War Being Waged on Your Future Self

3 thoughts for becoming the person you should be

The War on Your Future Self

There’s a silent war happening right now, and you’re the target. And I’m deadly serious.

It’s not fought with guns or bombs. It’s fought with notifications, likes, flashy headlines, and get-rich-quick schemes. It’s fought in the tiny moments when you pick up your phone “just for a second” and lose an hour of your life.

Tech companies have weaponized your attention. Crypto scams prey on your FOMO. Social media? It’s turned short-term thrills and reckless behavior into symbols of success. It’s almost glamorized the idea that wealth is created in the snap of a finger.

The result? A world that pulls you away from your purpose, your goals, and the person you’re capable of becoming. You’re being robbed—of your time, your focus, your wealth, and your future.

But here’s the truth: you don’t have to play their game.

Imagine meeting the best version of yourself ten years from now. The one who stayed focused, disciplined, and determined. The one who didn’t get distracted by noise or lured by short-term gratification.

What would that version of you look like? What would they say to you today?

This isn’t just a fight for your time. It’s a fight for your legacy. And if you want to win, you need to wake up, take control, and build the habits that will carry you to success. Because no one is coming to save you. Your future self is counting on you.

This is how you fight back.

Step 1: Remove the Victim Mentality

The world is out to steal your attention and your potential. That’s a fact. But what you do with that knowledge? That’s your responsibility. Winners don’t play the victim. They adapt, conquer, and rise. In all of my time walking this Earth I have never seen a single successful person that acted like a victim, not one.

Viktor Frankl, the Austrian neurologist who survived the horrors of Nazi concentration camps, proved this in Man’s Search for Meaning. He lost everything—his family, his career, his freedom—yet he discovered the ultimate truth: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” Frankl refused to let his captors take his mind. He found meaning in his suffering and emerged stronger.

The same lesson applies to Michael Jordan in sports. When the Pistons took to beating the living ___ out of him every game sending the Bulls home from the playoffs in the late 80s what did they do? He got to the gym. He put on muscle. He hardened himself for battle. And most importantly he didn’t play the victim. He made himself unbeatable.

Life is rigged to test you, but you’re not powerless. Stop blaming the system, the economy, or your circumstances. Take back control. Turn off the notifications that hijack your mind. Take stock of where you’re stuck and ask yourself, “What’s one thing I can do right now to move forward?” Complaining won’t change the situation. Ownership will.

Step 2: Connect to Your Why

Discipline without a reason is like running a marathon without a finish line. You’ll quit when it gets hard. You need a purpose—a why so strong that no distraction can break you.

Admiral James Stockdale, a Vietnam War prisoner-of-war, survived seven years of unspeakable torture because he had a reason: to return home to his family and live to tell his story. He combined brutal honesty about his circumstances with an unshakable belief that he would survive. His why kept him alive when others lost hope.

Kobe Bryant lived by the same principle. He woke up at 4 AM every day because he wasn’t chasing trophies or praise—he was chasing greatness. His why was about becoming the best version of himself, about leaving a legacy that would inspire others long after he was gone. He said it best, “I realized that intimidation didn’t really exist if you’re in the right frame of mind. I always asked myself: ‘What am I training for? Why am I doing this?’ And when I kept that focus, I could push through anything.”

Stop, what’s your why?

Is it paying off your parents’ mortgage and giving them peace of mind? Is it building enough wealth to change your family’s future? Is it proving to yourself that you can rise above the noise, distractions, and short-term thinking? Write a letter to yourself ten years in the future. Describe the life you want, the person you’ll become, and the legacy you’ll leave behind. Keep it somewhere visible. When you feel tempted to waste time, read it. Your why will remind you what’s at stake.

Step 3: Plan for the Long Game

The enemy of your future self is short-term thinking. The world loves instant gratification because it sells. But the results that matter—health, wealth, and mastery—come from compounding effort over time. Remember this, true and lasting success comes from little improvements compounded over time.

James Clear, in Atomic Habits, explains that small actions performed consistently create massive change. He writes, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” A tiny habit—like saving $10 a day, lifting weights three times a week, or reading for 20 minutes a night—may feel insignificant today. But over months and years, those habits compound, changing the trajectory of your life.

Warren Buffett understood this long before anyone else. He began investing as a child, planting seeds that would grow into a fortune worth billions. “Someone’s sitting in the shade today,” he said, “because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” Buffett didn’t chase quick gains. He built a system that relied on discipline, patience, and compounding growth. One could argue it was a touch easier back in the day of newspapers, radios, and non-weaponized social media, but I believe Buffett would’ve figured it out even if he were starting today.

You need a plan that lasts. Automate your savings and investments. Build a routine for your health: lift, eat real food, and sleep like your life depends on it—because it does. For your career, focus on deep work. Stop mindlessly consuming content and start producing something valuable. Write, build, create. I’ll say it again, write, build, create. When you produce more than you consume, you stop being a pawn in someone else’s game and start building a life of your own.

Bonus: Be Bold & Find a Mentor

If you want to accelerate your growth and win the war on your future self, don’t go it alone. Be bold—seek out people who are where you want to be and learn from them.

And here’s the kicker, tell them you have questions & you’d like to speak to them. Be respectful of their time, have your act together, and watch as these humans share the wisdom they’ve earned over the years.

A mentor is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. Why stumble through trial and error when you can follow someone who’s already walked the path? Great athletes have coaches, great investors have mentors, and great leaders seek wisdom from those who came before them. Kobe Bryant relentlessly picked the brains of Michael Jordan and other NBA legends. Warren Buffett credits Benjamin Graham for teaching him the principles of value investing. Finding a mentor isn’t about asking for shortcuts—it’s about gaining perspective, wisdom, and accountability to help you level up. Be humble enough to ask questions. Be bold enough to approach people who challenge and inspire you. Remember, one conversation with the right person can change the trajectory of your entire life.

And remember, one day if you do this right, you’ll be the person changing the trajectory of someone else’s life.

Win the War on Your Future Self

This war is happening in plain sight, and most people are losing. They’re drowning in distraction, chasing quick hits of pleasure, and wondering why their life feels so empty. But you? You don’t have to settle for that. No, you deserve better than settling for that.

You owe it to your future self to fight back. Reject the easy path and embrace discipline. Connect to a purpose that fuels you, and build systems that set you up for success.

Imagine meeting the best version of yourself ten years from now—the one who stayed focused, made the hard choices, and never gave up. What would they say to you today?

Stop playing small. Stop wasting time, energy, and money on things that steal from your future. Start making decisions that build a life you’ll be proud of. Take ownership. Connect to your why. Plan for the long game and never stop learning.

Your future self is counting on you. Don’t let you down.

The best is ahead,

Victaurs

P.S. Viktor Frankl quoted Goethe: “If you take man as he is, you make him worse; but if you take him as he could be, you make him capable of becoming what he should be.” This isn’t just a call to inspire others—it’s a challenge to see beyond the present, to believe in potential, and to hold yourself and those around you to a higher standard. Treat people not as they are, but as they could become, and watch them rise to meet it. By becoming the best version of yourself, you light a path for others to do the same. Remember: the way you see someone can change who they become—including yourself.