Sounds somewhat like exploiting the Fundamental Attribution Error. Other people (including imagined selves) are not that much influenced by external situational factors in our minds. Thus, they act more consistent with their internal characteristics. ActualMe is always thrown around by external forces and emotion chaos.

I'd agree with this. I've been doing it for over a year now and have a whole notebook full of gushy, sentimental writing about my friends, family, nature, art etc. that I would never in a million years let anyone else see.

One thing I would add - Writing a gratitude journal once a week has been shown to be more effective than doing it daily (Sonja Lyubomirsky 2007)

I guess if you do it every day it becomes a chore and you don't do it with any real emotional investment so it becomes less effective.

Great article, thanks Luke

Something else I've had to look up: how to convincingly dress like a grownup. (By which I mean less casual than t-shirts and jeans, work-appropriate, flattering, not looking like I just stepped out of a sci-fi movie or an art school.) There are some sites for female style advice I've found interesting and helpful (and edited to remove one I used to like that has gone off the rails).

Poker is an excellent teaching vehicle. It really motivates to learn about probabilities, because it makes you win. It teaches you the emotional strength to accept sunk costs, because it reduces your unavoidable losses.