Living a life that matters

Building your resume and building your legacy are different.

What “matters”?

Relationships – that people were better off for knowing you.  Love and kindness in all its forms and amplitudes.

Growth – that you didn’t settle for far less than you were capable of.  You developed your talents to build your ability to make an impact.

You mattered – You made a positive difference for someone else, or a lot of other people.  Maybe for people you know, or maybe for people you don’t know and will never meet.  Things were better because you showed up and made it so.

There are different seasons of life.  What matters in our teens falls away in our 20s, and our 20s seem immature in our 30s, and the seasons continue to change.

It’s good to think about what really matters – what survives the seasons.

Make adjustments – while you still have time. 

Are you a slave to your phone?

Each time your phone gives you a notification of some kind, do you grab it and look?  

Do you splinter your precious attention and give it over to every person, robot, corporation or machine that wants a piece of it?

To do high-quality work, it requires focus.  To be your best, you need to put sustained attention on what you are doing/creating.

Every time you shift your attention from one target to another, you are reducing your cognitive capacity.

Reduce the number of things you have to pay attention to.

Protect big blocks of time from distraction.

Take charge of your attention.

 

Bet on yourself

When you bet on yourself, it’s a low-risk wager.

It’s amazing what you can do.

Set a goal.  Make a commitment.  Resolve in your mind you will complete the task.

Unlock your reasons – to get unstuck, to move forward, to show you can do it, to “show them”, etc.

Do the work.  

It requires getting out of your comfort zone?  Go BOLDLY.  Learn.  Break new ground – it’s called growing.

Bet on yourself.

“Death is as real as it gets”

Some people need some real reasons to change their behavior.

“Death is as real as it gets” – Steve Aoki

There’s one.

Will you change your diet?

Will you get in shape?

Will you stop smoking (anything)?

Will you wear the helmet and the seat belt?

Will you not drink and drive?

The problem is that we discount what will happen in the future and prioritize feeling good/it being easy now.

But when death comes or approaches, you can’t go back.

Think ahead.  Act now.

Spend less on useless junk

We all buy stuff.  And some stuff is good stuff that we need and love and makes our life better.

But much stuff is bought on impulse.  Looks neat in the store or on the screen and we buy it.

Look around your house.  I bet there is a lot of stuff you would trade to have your money back.

Here’s your challenge – consider if you really need the thing before you buy it.  

Sleep on it,  you’ll probably be over it in the morning.

Stuff clutters our space.  Life with less stuff can be a good life.