The question to ask your younger self

The question to ask your younger self

From AGING with STRENGTH® by Paul von Zielbauer

December 21, 2025 · 7 min · Season 2 · Episode 3

About this episode

Paul von Zielbauer explores a thought experiment about asking your younger self what you want for your future.

TRANSCRIPT In this audiocast, I invite you to join me on a slightly provocative thought experiment: Imagine you could reach back through time to ask your younger self a simple question: What do you want for me? Not what did you want for me, but what do you want for me now. Because this conversation is happening in the present — and because that vision your younger self had remains alive — and actionable — in you today. That’s my argument….and here’s why. I came across this quote recently. “Discipline is remembering who you said you wanted to be.” There are four important parts to that idea: 1 | You had a vision for yourself One is simply that you had a vision for who you wanted to become. It was specific, ambitious, thoughtful and achievable. And it came from you. Decades ago, for instance, I had dreams of becoming an oceanographer, a literary travel writer, a jazz bassist and a spy. 2 | It was about who, not what, you wanted to become Second, your vision is about who — not what — you wanted to be. We often default to defining ourselves by what we are, professionally. But for many of us, what we do for money is a superficial proxy for who we are, really, if or when our jobs…

People in this episode

Host: Paul von Zielbauer

Topics covered

  • self-reflection
  • personal growth
  • vision
  • discipline
  • identity

Keywords

  • younger self
  • vision
  • discipline
  • personal development
  • self-identity

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