Time is what we want most, but what we use worst: William Penn
We, as a culture, are yet to call time on the above reality.Though I have not read the book yet, I came across this
Oliver Burkeman title ”
Four Thousand Weeks “. That’s the number of weeks in the average lifespan. Some years ago,
Dr Robert Cialdini wrote his seminal classic ‘
Principles of Persuasion ‘ in which he argued about
The Scarcity Principle– Simply put, people want more of those things they can have less of.
Without meaning to read out the morbid act, let’s remind ourselves that we all have a finite amount of time- no matter whatever situation or stage of life we are in. If we are ready to wake up to this smell of the coffee, the temptation would be very high to extract the maximum, do more, zero in on efficiency hacks to up the ante and all and more of that. That said, if we aim to do that, we might be on the wrong track.
Most of us live with the stubborn idea that we’ll always have tomorrow. But sooner or later all of our tomorrows will run out. It is finite.
Let the above not become a debilitating thought. Rather, use that as an invigorating tool to design the life that you want to live. To distill the trivial many to focus on the vital few. To amp up courage to take the outrageous moonshots that you were afraid to take. To give you the spunk that can go down to your every bone.
Probably, the route to take would be the ‘ disciplined pursuit of less but better‘. What author Greg McKeown calls ‘ Essentialism ‘.
We have: One life to live. One life to die. One life to learn and practice what you have learnt. One life to learn multiple skills, arts, hobbies, sports…multiple professions. One life to experience joy in what you perform. One life to share, give, pass on, teach and donate so that you die empty but Rich every which way.
“ The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because someone was too afraid to take that first step, keep with the problem, or determined to carry out their dream.”- so said Les Brown. And what a telling commentary that is on the ‘ ground reality ‘ .
Contemplating your own mortality can help you prioritize what’s truly important and live with greater purpose and meaning. Time to move the needle from living a life of endless efficiency and start living a life that really matters.
I had the good fortune to interview Todd Henry, author of the book ‘ Die Empty ‘ for BrandKnew and if you are interested you can watch the interview here .
ENDS
