Nobody is coming to save you. Be the help today that you’ll need in 5 years.

The waitbuywhy blog popularized a chart called “Your Life in Weeks.” It showed every week of your life on one page as a dot. When you zoom out and look at life this way, it makes everyone feel something.

Fear? Anxiety? Dread? Sadness? Existential? Motivation? Inspiration?

If this is the first time you’re seeing this chart, then you’re probably getting a little bummed out.

Because especially in this day and age, it’s easy to let the weeks, months, and years slip by. It’s been about 5 years since lockdowns. It’s been about 5 years since Russia invaded Ukraine. It’s been about 5 years since chatGPT was launched.

While life feels different, it still looks remarkably the same for most of us.

In our news cycle these days, nothing lasts more than a week. We’re all addicted to algorithms, shoving crises and world events through our feed at an alarming rate. Crisis, catastrophe, doom, gloom, fear and doubt. War, AI, cost of living, housing, unemployment.

Things just seem to be getting worse across the board. Part of that can be blamed on the media, but part of it just seems to be accurate.

So what can we do?

Dedicate to our future selves.

Dedicate the next 5 years, the next row in this chart, to making your future self proud. If you have a family, or will have a family in 5 years, dedicate these years to them to.

Decide who you want to be, where you want to be, what you need, and start making moves.

Tuarn off the news cycle and focus on yourself. People still live in Ukraine. People still go to parties in Israel. People still write blogs in the age of AI. 

Whatever catastrophe you’re being sold: life will go on. I’m sure plenty will change, but the world will still be completely recognizable in 5 years. A pandemic, multiple wars, and AI did little to change our day to day.

Yet you could be completely un-recognizable.

5 years is more than enough time for you to get in the best shape of your life. 

5 years is more than enough time for you to start that business you’ve been thinking of, or write that book, or learn that skill.

5 years is more than enough time to meet that someone, fall in love, and get married.

5 years is more than enough time to become well and truly fluent, in any language.

So much is possible in 5 years. And for that reason, our monkey brains are really bad at planning that far in advance.

But it’s only 60 months. 260 weeks. 260 dots. 260 chances to start the week strong. 260 weekends. When you step back and see it visually, it’s not as long as indefinite as it feels.

When you feel like life is getting overwhelming, when you feel the weeks slipping away, return to this chart. Return to this goal. 

Ask yourself where you want to be in July 2031.

And make every week count. 

Help your future self. Every. Single. Week.

Because long-termism is antidote to the insanity that is the modern day news cycle.

Because the best help you’ll ever receive comes from within.