“I was stuck in this job, feeling like I was just on a treadmill of having to earn enough money so that I could afford to buy the house that was near enough to my job. It was just like this crazy cycle. On Sunday nights, me and my husband would be just grumpy and unhappy about having to go back to work. And I’d think, you know, we don’t have to do this. … I felt like I wasn’t being true to myself.”
Could that quote be from you?
It’s actually from a woman named Roz Savage who decided that she’d had enough of the “perfect life” – husband, corporate career, big house, little red sports car. She decided to give it all up and row solo across the Atlantic.
While I don’t share her vision of rowing single-handedly across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in a 23-foot carbon-hulled rowboat – I absolutely LOVE her resolve in deciding to choose the life she wanted.
And how did she come to this life-changing conclusion? She wrote two obituaries for herself. (A woman after my own heart!) The first obituary was based on a life that continued along the path of the “perfect life”. The second was based on a life of following her dreams.
This article came to my attention via a Twitter post from my friend Bill Star. Bill is the CEO of My Life List™ which is a fantastic, free online community dedicated to helping each of us to design a “life list” that really matters.
So, back to my original question: “Could the quote at the top be from you?” Do you feel like you aren’t being true to yourself? Here’s how to get started on choosing the life you want:
1. Download and sign my free Mortality Manifesto Pledge.
2. Like Roz, write your own obituaries. One for the life that continues with the status quo and one for the life you would love to be living.
3. Sign up with My Life List™ and start creating and designing your new life step by step. There’s a wonderful community there to support you so you won’t feel like you’re alone on the Atlantic. (Unless that’s what you want to do! In that case – talk to Roz!)
4. Come back here and share what amazing things you’re up to!
I’ve decided to finally start using video to help spread the message of the Power of Mortality™. Here is the first video in the series. It’s a short (41 second) video called “Enough Time?”
And I need your help!
- Please pass this video on to family and friends!
- Post it on your Facebook or MySpace pages!
- Share it via your own blogs!
- Spread the news through Twitter!
- Vote for it on StumbleUpon, Digg, and any other social bookmarking utility!
Let’s see how many people we can get to Take The Pledge!
This morning I was looking at some amazing photos that Jose’ has on Facebook. As soon as I saw them, I realized that I had to write a blog post about them, so I dropped him a note to ask if I could use them. He wrote back and told me that I was welcome to use the photos. He also told me that there was a story behind them – and what a story it is! So today, I will bring you Jose’s story. Then, in my next blog entry, I will give you the post that I was originally inspired to write when I saw these fantastic photos.
Here are the photos (Jose’ is the one in the white t-shirt) – Click on each one to see the larger photo):
And here’s the story behind them, as told by Jose’:
I was scared of heights. A couple of years ago the German girlfriend I had at the time took me sight seeing on top of Cologne cathedral. Going up the never ending stairs did not make me realize how high we were going as we had no windows around us. When we got to the top and realized the height, I simply froze, got hold of the wall behind me and was shaking with panic. Well it took her and some other tourist around 45 minutes to get me down. I went down the steps facing the wall and my girlfriend talking me about silly stuff to deviate my frightening thoughts.
Last year I started working on myself and getting my life in shape. One of the things I had to work on was the fear of heights. I was going to be in Hawaii for a conference regarding personal development and I decided to take action to defeat this fear of heights. I booked a skydive 5 weeks before the jump and from that day I created a mind movie where I saw myself boarding the plane with a smile and no fear and also watched myself jump off the aircraft with a big smile and screaming with joy having the time of my life. I went through this mind movie at least once a day till the jump and while doing so I said aloud to myself “I am going to skydive and am going to have fun”. Well, I jumped and it was a live performance of my mind movie and did not feel any fear for not even a fraction of a second. Now I know that with the right mind-set I can achieve what I want.
Do I have some powerful friends, or what?
Now I want you to consider doing three simple things:
1. Use the comments section below to tell us how you’ve overcome fears.
2. Forward this to any of your friends who are having difficulty facing their fears.
Wow! You need to click on the picture and look at this! (It will only take 30 seconds to read … but a lifetime to think about!)
I couldn’t have said it better myself!!
Take a long, hard look at those blobs. Count them out and see where you are right now.
And then remember that 936 is just the statistical norm. It’s not a number that you are guaranteed, owed or otherwise entitled to.
To further put this in perspective… last month Dave Freeman, the man who co-wrote 100 Things To Do Before You Die, died at the age of 47. That, my friends, is only 564 blobs.
Have you ever seen someone doing something that you’d love to try?
Something like:
Whitewater rafting
Hiking in the Himalayas
Driving a race car
Shooting under 100 for a round of golf
Or maybe it’s something like making pottery or working with stained-glass.
You see what they are doing and you say to yourself: “Man! I’d love to try that one day!” But of course one day isn’t a day on the calendar – so you never get around to trying it.
I recently met a very interesting young man named Frank who is involved in parkour. If you don’t know what parkour is (or even if you do) you need to watch this amazing three minute video clip. (Warning: your heart will be beating faster by the time you finish it and you if your boss catches you watching it at work, you will have the urge to vault over your cubicle wall to escape.)
I’ve always wanted to try parkour, but I’m wise enough to know that you need some basic training before you start (not to mention a level of physical conditioning that I just don’t have at the moment). Now that I know Frank, I can live vicariously thorough him and that might be just the motivation I need to start getting in shape to try out some of these moves.What about you? What things would you love to try? Are they things that you can jump right into, or do you need to work up to them? If you can jump right in – what’s stopping you? If you need to work up to them – what are you doing to start the process? A good place to start would be to become acquainted with someone who is already doing what you’d like to do.
For 2008, why not vow to surround yourself with “successful” people? And by that, I mean people who are doing what you’d like to do.
Now I just need to ask Frank if he’s ever done THIS – because MAN-O-MAN would I ever love to fly like that!
If you go to Amazon.com and search for the phrase “before you die” you will find an incredible number of books. You’ll find titles such as:
* 1,000 Places to See Before You Die
* 1001 Gardens You Must See Before You Die
* Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die
* Unforgettable Things to Do Before You Die
* 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
* 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
* 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
* 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
* Fifty Places to Sail Before You Die
* Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die
What about you?
Have you made any of your own “… before I die” lists?
If not, why not? It’s a lot of fun!
If you have (or you would like to get started), I encourage you to share them via the the comments section below.
Make your “before I die” list and then get busy crossing off the items! You’ll thank me later!
Think of someone very dear to you. Perhaps your spouse or lover comes to mind. Maybe it is a child, parent or friend.
Now I want you to imagine that this is the last time you would ever see that person again.
Imagine how long you would take to say goodbye.
What would you say?
What would you make absolutely sure they know?
Our need to say goodbye is tremendously strong. The book Final Gifts by two hospice nurses, Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley, is filled with very touching stories illustrating dying people’s need for closure.
Brazilian author Paulo Coelho recently shared the following story:
During the atrocities that accompanied the Bolshevik revolution, thousands of people were arbitrarily arrested, beaten, stripped and executed with a shot in the back of the head. According to one witness: “at the most tragic moment in our lives we have an absolute need to not feel alone. So most of the victims asked to say goodbye – and since there was nobody nearby, they embraced and said farewell to their executioners.”
Life is full of uncertainties. We never know when we will be saying goodbye for the last time. Now I’m not advocating that you say your final goodbyes each and every time you leave for work or head to the store for milk.
What I am suggesting is that from time to time we need to check in with ourselves to ensure that those whom we love know how much they mean to us.
I will consider my life a success if I can go to my grave knowing that there is no one to whom I didn’t get the chance to say the words “I’m sorry”, “I forgive you”, or “I love you”.
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