Ralph Waldo Emerson Trust 30 Challenge: Hey, 10 Years From Now Folks Are Still Texting.

This Trust 30 prompt is from Tia Singh. Her inspiration is this quote:

Speak what you think now in hard words, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said today. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Her challenge is to imagine a text to the today me from the 10 year in the future me. In addition to the content, I am to consider the transformative effect the guidance from the future has on my current day to day existence. Imagine the scene, me, tomorrow morning on my daily walk:

source: morgueFile.com

Hey, what's this? I got a text from... me. That's odd. When was the text sent? 10 years from today? I gotta download that app. What's the message? 

Success lies not in the brilliance of the plan but rather in steadfast determination to the plan's execution. I said steadfast, not stubborn. 

Huh? What's that supposed to mean? Oh, I get it. 

• Stop screwing around with plans on paper. Write a plan and work on getting it done, each and every day. 
• Steadfast, not stubborn. So that must mean to carry accumulated knowledge with me each day. The plan was written in ink (well the 21st Century version of ink, a laptop), not stone.

So success is based upon:

1. consistent execution of a well conceived but not necessarily brilliant plan combined with 
2. the acumen to make changes when necessary.

Wow. Brief, simple and common sense. I didn't know it's so easy to be a success. I should text me a thank you. What? "your text cannot be sent". I'll just mark my calendar to thank me 10 years from today. I do have an app for that.

What are your guidelines for success? What would your next decade self guide you to do today?