When I was 15 years old, I started a tradition. Every year on my birthday, I wrote a letter to myself. One year later, I would open it. Each letter followed a similar format. There was an opening paragraph about what had happened that year, what the latest news was and things of that nature. Then, following that was a to-do list. Actually, it was more of a goals list. Well, in reality, it was a list of stuff that I would look at the next year and wonder why I never did any of it. In turn, all of the same goals and ideas would end up in the new letter for the future me. While writing letters to myself might seem like something only an insane person would do, I could argue that it is highly therapeutic, and here is why.

Reading through the old letters I had written, I learned something about myself. Even if I didn’t accomplish the checklist that was detailed in it, I got a good look at the person I was the previous year. Looking through the past five years of letters, I see how much I have grown as a person. Some of the letters talked about mistakes, some told of achievements that I had forgotten about and some even got a well-deserved laugh out of me. Those letters are a part of me, and they document how I’ve changed and matured. Taking on this task of writing a letter each year might seem intimating at first. Maybe the things you write will change over the course of a year, and sometimes, without knowing it, it’s for the best. Changes I wrote about during one letter seemed like the end of the world. Reading through it now, I see that without those changes, I wouldn’t have made certain decisions that shaped who I am now.

Another reason to write a letter to yourself is that it will hold you accountable. If you can’t keep a promise you made to yourself, what kind of promise can you keep? Setting a yearlong deadline and committing yourself to a checklist might be the best way to ensure it gets done. That way, 365 days later you can open up that letter and feel a sense of pride for having honored the commitment your past self made.

Letters are like pictures. You know how a picture captures a single image in time, holding it there forever? A letter you write to yourself is exactly like that, only it’s capturing your thoughts. Not sure how to start this letter? Begin by writing whatever comes to mind. Let your own stream of consciousness steer you along the right path. Before you know it, you’ll have a page full of recent events and things to do for the next year. If not, you’ve at least written something that future you might have a good laugh at. While this might not be for everyone, there’s nothing to lose from just giving it a try.