I don’t mean for this post to be morbid, but let’s face facts: you’re going to die one day. I’d like you to take a moment and let that sink in. And then take advantage of it.
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten was from my old Baptist pastor:
Live like you’re going to die tomorrow. Plan like you’re going to die in a thousand years.
What You Could Be Doing Now
I’m going to ask you a few questions, and I want you to seriously consider them.
- What are you not doing today that you’ve always wanted to do?
- Are you afraid of failure?
- If you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do today?
Living like you’re going to die tomorrow means taking risks, consequences be damned. It means the end of procrastinating; the end of making excuses.
Securing Your Future
On the flip side, you need to ask yourself questions about your long-term goals.
- Are you making decisions now that you’re going to regret in the future?
- Are you planning so that you and your business will be around for the long-haul?
- Are you investing in yourself for long-term growth?
Planning like you’re going to die in a thousand years means seeing the big picture, and not making snap decisions now that will have dire consequences down the road.
I believe that holding these two precepts in tension are the key to a happy and successful life, personally and professionally.
What do you think? Can this be done? What mantras do you try to live by?
Photo credit: Alison Scarpulla
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