Next discovering Now

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Next, your job in this lifetime is to take care of the future, to do your best to ensure that your future and the future of those you care about are going to be good. However, your biggest problem in doing this, it often seems, is that your Now doesn't cooperate. Your Now doesn't eagerly support what you want and even sabotages many things that you have been trying to do, right? I know that it often seems that way.

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Next, let's look at what your Now is trying to do for you and then speak your appreciation for your Now

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Read each of the following, one by one, as assertions of what your Now is trying to do for you. For each, ask yourself, "Can I see that this is true or at least partially true?" If the answer is "yes," then speak that appreciation out loud to your Now. With intention and with a congruent tone of voice, speak it so that your Now can feel your appreciation for what you just said. Then continue to the subsequent appreciation and do the same.

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• "Now, I appreciate you for giving me needed reminders that the purpose of life is to be happy."

• "Now, I appreciate you for reminding me that I can get what I want more effectively by paying attention to what you want and need."

• "Now, I appreciate that you remind me that I have a tendency always to push happiness off into the future."

• "Now, I appreciate that by finding ways for you to be okay with and enjoying the process of doing what I think needs to be done for our future, then you fully support me and give me energy to do that."

• "Now, I appreciate you noticing when there's some sort of conflict between us, and you will work with me as a partner to try to find ways we can both be happy, rather than just insisting on your way."

• "Now, I appreciate that you remind me that you are the future that has arrived, whcih I was previously working on to make better."

• "Now, I appreciate that, if it weren't for you providing a counterbalance, I would not be doing a very good job of having our future be excellent even though that's what I'm supposed to be doing."

• "Now, I appreciate when you are able to recognize what I am trying to do for the future you, and you cooperate with me as best you can."

• "Now, I appreciate when you're able to forgive me for having treated you so badly in the past and giving me a new chance to work together so that we can both be happy."

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Now discovering Next

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Now, your job in this lifetime is to take care of now, to do your best to ensure that you feel good now and don't feel bad now. However, your biggest problem in doing this, it often seems, is that your Next doesn't cooperate. She or he often pushes you or ignores you. Your Next doesn't often support you in what you want and even sabotages your efforts to feel good now, often blaming you. Your Next keeps focusing on the future, ignoring what you want and even pushing you to tolerate things until "someday."​

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Now, let's look at what your Next is trying to do for you and then speak your appreciation for your Next

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Read each of the following, one by one, as assertions of what your Next is trying to do for you. For each, ask yourself, "Can I see that this is true or at least partially true?" If the answer is "yes," then speak that appreciation out loud to your Next. With intention and with a congruent tone of voice, speak it so that your Next can feel your appreciation for what you just said. Then continue to the subsequent appreciation and do the same.

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• "Next, I appreciate you for giving me reminders that the purpose of life is to be happy in my future as well as now."

• "Next, I appreciate you for staying aware of the larger picture and being responsible for that so that I can feel safer and more easily enjoy now."

• "Next, I appreciate that you remind me that I have a tendency to indulge in the pleasures of the moment, sometimes at the expense of my future and my relationships with others."

• "Next, I appreciate it so much when you take the time to notice, anticipate, and design for what's likely to make me feel happy in the future when you'll want me to do something that you planned."

• "Next, I appreciate you noticing when I am upset or tolerating something, and you stop to work with me to figure out a way for us both to be happy, rather than trying to push me or blame me."

• "Next, I appreciate that if it weren't for you thinking of the future me in the past, then now would not be as good as it currently is."

• "Next, I appreciate that, if it weren't for you providing a counterbalance, my future me, even that me just a few minutes ahead, would quickly become me now who regrets what I did just a few minutes ago."

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Mutual appreciation is important

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Even with the NNI toolkit, if your Now and your Next are entrenched in their lack of understanding and appreciation for each other, it's going to be tough going. Return to this appreciation exercise often to support a feeling of rapport between Now and Next.