In 2005 I wrote a book called What’s Your Expiry Date? Embrace Your Mortality – Live With Vitality. In it, I introduced a concept I call The Power of Mortality™. I have been speaking about this topic since 2003 and done many radio and television interviews, including an hour long interview with Dr. Oz on Oprah & Friends. In 2009 I was featured in a documentary movie. But first and foremost the accomplishment that means the most to me is the incredible feedback that I get from people who have been impacted by my message.
People have changed their attitudes. People have changed their behaviors. People have changed their careers. People have changed their relationships. People have changed their lives! What more can you ask than to be able to do life-changing work?
In December of 2008 I got a message from my friend Sherry. We’ve never had the pleasure of meeting but have connected through Facebook. She and her family are fans of my book. They even have my Mortality Manifesto printed out and displayed on their fridge! Here’s what Sherry had to say:
I don’t know how you and your family talk about death, dying, living (I know your kids are younger) but my 12 year old daughter just brought it up to me. We were in the car and she just very quietly said, I love you Mom. We say it a lot in our house so I didn’t make much of it. Then also quietly she said, “i’m afraid to die”. Of course, i turned off the radio and really listened (which is what i should have been doing anyway). I’m not sure what brought it on but I think i remember having thoughts about mortality at about her age.
I really took it as an amazing opportunity to talk about mortality with her. I mentioned your name and your message (along with a bit of my own thoughts) and she knew who you were because I talk about you a lot in our home.
My point is, we continued the conversation at home in bed in the dark (where all the best intimate conversations happen). And we will continue the conversations as they come up. I`m pleased to say that she understands about mortality as something that is inevitable. And she has agreed to open her mind to facing it without fear. She also knows that there is every reason to believe that she and her family will live long lives but that each day is a gift.
So… thanks! You gave some powerful parenting tools.
Within a few weeks I had created an outline of a book that would be aimed at children, to help them to understand the idea of mortality and to approach it from a place of power, rather than fear.
And then… my life got crazy so I shelved that project.
Now, I’m proud to say that it’s back in full swing!
My question to you is:
What age do kids start to ask questions about mortality?
I’d love to hear your insights and anecdotes on the topic.
My first book, “What’s Your Expiry Date? Embrace Your Mortality – Live With Vitality” was published in 2005.
Here are some of the comments:
“A wonderful book…A very empowering story. Patrick reminds us of why we are alive, reinforcing the importance of taking advantage of every moment we are on this planet.”
- Dr. Mehmet Oz – host of “The Dr. Oz Show““Fabulous! A new perspective on the greatest gift of all. Let Patrick walk you to the edge and back again, so that you might begin using your wings before you have to. What’s Your Expiry Date? is as thought provoking as it is inspirational.”
- Mike Dooley – featured teacher from The Secret and author of Notes from the Universe
“Patrick Mathieu’s wisdom is given weight by his unusual story and his awareness from a young age of his own mortality. What’s Your Expiry Date? invites and challenges us to ponder the choices we might make if we could simply remain conscious of the certainty of our own mortality and the preciousness of life.”
- Oriah Mountain Dreamer – Author ofThe InvitationandWhat We Ache For
“What’s Your Expiry Date? contains much wisdom. When we accept our mortality and live our true life — we save our life. What is there to fear when you accept your mortality? If you live in your heart, as if you had 15 minutes to live…magic happens.”
- Dr. Bernie Siegel - physician, professor, and bestselling author
The hardcover version is still available at Amazon.com
(Hey, did we ever decide what we we’re calling that last decade? We had the 80’s, then the 90’s but what is the name for the decade we just finished? And what are we in now? The “teens”?)
Well, it’s a new year and the beginning of a new decade! Why not take this opportunity to create a new life for yourself?
I have been writing and speaking about the Power of Mortality™ for six years now. As you are probably aware, my message is closely tied to my life story, and since life continues to grow and evolve, my message has evolved as well.
If the Power of Mortality™ was about waking people up to the importance of their lives, then my next step involves helping people get into action when it comes to creating their dream lives.
I am thrilled to invite you to join me at ChooseTheLifeYouWant.com as I discuss a three-step process to help people live the lives of their dreams. Lives of significance. Lives that are fearless, focused and free from regret.
Choose The Life You Want (CTLYW) simply builds on the discussion that was started with The Power of Mortality. Naturally, the concept of embracing your own mortality is one of the cornerstones of the CTLYW approach. If you haven’t already read and signed the Mortality Manifesto Pledge – do it now!
I am replacing my Mindful Moment newsletter and podcast with a weekly email newsletter called “Fearless, Focused Fridays“. The idea is to give yourself a few moments on Friday to reflect on your dreams and head into the weekend and following week with a renewed sense of purpose and clarity.
As I begin this new chapter, I want to sincerely thank you for being part of my journey so far. I would be honored in you would continue with me as we both begin to choose (and live) the lives we want!
So if you’ve been following my blog for a while, or if you’ve read my book – you may have wondered what my heart actually looks like. Well, your wait is over!
You can get a look at my heart at the same time as you are checking out my new website called Choose The Life You Want. The site doesn’t “officially” launch until January 1, 2010, but you can have a sneek-peek right now!
Here’s the link! While you’re over there, you might as well subscribe! Then come back here and tell me what you think!
Isn’t it hard to believe that 2009 is rapidly drawing to a close? December 1st already!
2009 has been a year of challenges for me. Actually, the last two years have been challenging for me. This is why I haven’t been very active in blogging or podcasting. To those of you who used to look forward to my regular messages – I’m sorry that I’ve been sporadic in my communications. The good news is that I’ve learned a lot of lessons during these times. Lessons about myself and lessons about life. And beginning January 1st (just one month from today) I’m going to start sharing those lessons with you.
If you found value in The Power of Mortality™, then I’m sure you’re going to love what’s next!
If you enjoyed my first book “What’s Your Expiry Date?”, then I know you’re going to love my next book!
A new blog, a new website, a new podcast, a new book … all coming in the new year!
What’s next is the evolution of the message that started with The Power of Mortality™. That evolution is the journey that I’ve been on for the past 24+ months. And let me tell you… it’s quite a ride and the journey is just beginning!
I can’t wait to share it with you! Are you up for it?
“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!
As a Certified Master Coach I have a certain level of expertise when it comes to understanding and modifying human behavior patterns. For the most part, the limitations and roadblocks that people encounter in achieving their goals and objectives are self-imposed. The role of a great coach is to help the client get our of their own way so that they can easily and naturally do the things they really want to do. We do this by having the client look carefully at the belief systems from which they operate on a daily basis. And the best way to get to the core of those beliefs is to have the client listen carefully to their own self-talk.
As you may know, I have recently made a choice to increase my fitness level and decrease my body mass and body fat percentage. I am using all of my skills and expertise to ensure that this choice becomes a reality for me in a fast and efficient manner.
This week, (the first week of my program) I paid very close attention the self-talk that was coming up around my lifestyle choices. I found that I was really embracing the exercise components of my plan, but I was having some difficulty around food choices. I was eating well, but not consistently. Towards the end of the week, I found myself making some “bad” choices when it came to snacks. As I tuned in to the self-talk around these choices, here is what I heard:
“Yummm! I’m going to have some of this – just as a treat.”
“That’s a bad idea and it’s out of line with my goals.”
“Yeah, I only live once. Do I want to live a spartan lifestyle, or do I want to enjoy myself? I deserve this little treat.”
WOW! Those are a lot of unconscious beliefs at work there! Let’s take a look:
First, you can see that my Power of Mortality™ mindset is working against me with the excuse that I deserve a treat because I only live once and I could die at any moment. That’s an absolutely silly excuse now that I’m aware of it!
Second, I am equating sticking to my plan as living a “spartan lifestyle”. How likely am I to stick with something like that?
Third, I am further equating this to a lack of enjoyment and self-deprivation. I’ve even gone so far as to make it an either/or situation – “spartan lifestyle” or “enjoy myself”. Hmmmmm.. no wonder I’ve struggled with this in the past.
I recently wrote about the fact that nothing has any meaning except for the meaning we give it. I said: “Once we realize that we have complete control over the meanings we assign to things, we gain a tremendous amount of power.” Here’s how I shifted my meaning in this situation.
I zeroed in on my phrase “Do I want to live a spartan lifestyle, or do I want to enjoy myself?”. As I heard the words “spartan lifestyle” I was able to instantly shift the meaning. When I heard the word “spartan”, I thought of the movie “300” which was an incredibly violent and gory movie full of guys with fantastic abdominal muscles. (I choose to believe that these were computer generated abs courtesy of Pixar Studios!)
That one shift has made all the difference! Now, when I hear my self-talk whining about not being able to eat something, and I hear “do I want to live a spartan lifestyle?” I think of those guys and their abs and I answer: “Hell yes, I want to live a lifestyle like that!” (The great abs part of the lifestyle – not the death, violence and gore part.)
Then I visualize the negative and limiting self-talk as the messenger in the movie who is standing at the edge of the well and I kick him backwards into the abyss!
I imagine myself as the main character in the movie, standing there with rippling abs and armed with a celery stick, ready to take on thousands of invading chocolate bars or cookies! This a completely silly and ridiculous way of thinking and that’s precicely why it works for me. I find it fun and easy to do!
And more importantly, it breaks the pattern in my head about what my healthy choices mean (lack of enjoyment and self-depravation) and helps install new, supportive meanings and beliefs.
So this week, I encourage you to consciously tune in to your own self-talk and be on the lookout for limiting beliefs that might be working against your goals and objectives. If you need help… I’ll be over here eating celery and doing situps!
My first book, “What’s Your Expiry Date? Embrace Your Mortality – Live With Vitality” was published in 2005. 
That one shift has made all the difference! Now, when I hear my self-talk whining about not being able to eat something, and I hear “do I want to live a spartan lifestyle?” I think of those guys and their abs and I answer: “Hell yes, I want to live a lifestyle like that!” (The great abs part of the lifestyle – not the death, violence and gore part.)
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