The BAD Roommate
Imagine you share your home with two roommates. Your schedules are different, so you rarely see each other. But as it turns out, one of these roommates is fantastic, and the other is a nightmare.
The good roommate is thoughtful and conscientious. He does his part to help with the small tasks that keep the household running. He takes out the trash the night before, washes the dishes without being asked, and makes small repairs around the house.
The bad roommate is another story. Constantly slacking, always dragging his feet through even the most basic chores. He leaves messes everywhere, knowing that if he waits long enough, you’ll have to clean them up. Living with this roommate is a frustrating, stressful experience.
This situation isn’t hypothetical. You’re living it right now.
The roommate you share your home with is your past self. At different times in your life, you’ve probably had both kinds of past-you roommates. When you’re in a good groove, you walk around your home and see that your roommate (you from 12 to 24 hours ago) has already made the bed, cleaned the kitchen, and fixed that loose handle on the cabinet. It feels great to live with this person.
When things aren’t going so well, you’ll find that the bad roommate has moved in. Messes pile up, chores are postponed, and your day gets spent cleaning up all the consequences your past self didn’t want to face. You don’t get to do any of the things you wanted to do. The past-you roommate already had all the fun and left you holding the bag.
Thinking about it this way, getting things done isn’t an imposition. It’s a gift to your future self. It feels good to send those completed tasks ahead in time, knowing you’ll get to live in a clean, organized home just the way you like it.
Now take the idea one level deeper. Your true home, the one you never leave, is your body. If you look in the mirror and don’t like what you see, it’s because the bad roommate has been at work, making short-term choices and leaving future-you to deal with the fallout. This dynamic leads to frustration and self-doubt. You’re sharing your body with someone who isn’t keeping up their end of the deal. Eventually, you stop trusting that roommate. You stop cleaning up after them. And when the present-you checks out, the bad roommate returns and the cycle continues.
As strange as it sounds, you’re in a long-term relationship with your past self. Like any relationship, it breaks down without respect, understanding, or love between the two of you. If you’ve ever lived in a home filled with argument and blame, you know how miserable it can be. When you’re out of sync with your past self’s choices, your body becomes that broken home.
The good news is that you can start being the good roommate right now. When you make choices about food, exercise, or sleep, think of them as small gifts to your future self. And when you receive those gifts, when you wake up rested, move easily, and feel healthy, take a moment to thank your past self and commit to keeping the cycle going.
That’s how you rebuild trust, respect, and love for yourself.
It starts with your next choice.
