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!
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!
“Choice” is my new mantra. I have written a number of articles on the subject – some on this blog (here and here) and one on a blog called The Positive Imperative. And it’s the central subject of one of the books I’m writing (the follow up to What’s Your Expiry Date?) which will be released later this year.
I just finished writing a blog entry called “Oprah’s Big Mistake“. In the article, which revolves around Oprah Winfrey’s weight gain, I offered the following words of advice: “It’s all a choice.” (Please read the article before you unleash your pro-Oprah fury on me!)
And I truly believe that! I believe that we need to choose the life we want to live. I believe that the path to the life you want comes from choices that you make moment to moment, day to day. And I believe that we have to start making those choices right now.
So I’ve decided to put this theory to the test!
Right now, I weigh more than I’d like to. Since I’m a tall person with a big frame, I carry my weight well and I don’t really consider it an issue. But deep down, I would like to be leaner and more fit. If I’m really honest with myself, I will admit that if I were truly choosing the life I want, I wouldn’t choose to weigh this much.
So I’m going to put my skills to the test.
I’m a Certified Master Coach and I empower people to achieve incredible results.
I’m a powerful motivational speaker and author and I specialize in personal and corporate transformation.
And most importantly, I know the power of taking responsibility for your own life and the power of making a choice to pilot your own life.
So… here we go.
Today, January 18th 2009, I weigh 218.5 lbs and have a body fat percentage of 26%
I am making the choice to get myself down to 195 lbs and 17% body fat.
I’m not putting a timeline on this, I’m just going to be consistent with my choices and let it take as long as it takes. I’m in no hurry.
My plan? I plan to use all of the different approaches with which I’ve had some success in the past.
Choosing alkalizing foods
Proper hydration
Walking
Push-ups (I’m using the hundredpushups.com program)
Sit-ups (I’m using the twohundredsitups.com program)
AND YOU! I’m going to be reporting on my progress via Twitter and Facebook, so if you would like to see how I’m doing and offer encouragement – then please follow me on Twitter or become my friend on Facebook.
One of the reasons that I can speak so confidently about the Power of Mortality™ is that I live it on a daily basis. I want to bring this same resolve to the topic of choosing the life you want. Making a choice is the first step. Acting on it is where things really start to happen!
I subscribe to Oprah’s podcast and January 7th, there was a short (3m 36s) video podcast called “Oprah’s Candid Confession – The Real Reason Behind Her 40-Pound Weight Gain”. I watched with great interest to see what this candid confession was all about. As I watched, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing!
“And what happened was, um.. life took over… life took over. I started getting overwhelmed.”
Excuse me – what was that?
I had to back up and listen to it again, but that’s what she said.
I was dumbfounded. How can Oprah get overwhelmed because “life took over”?
So I kept watching the video clip. She spoke about insomnia and being exhausted. “…many a day I didn’t want to come into work. I didn’t want to come into work because I’m so tired. Too much work, not enough play, not enough time to come down, not enough time to really relax.”
While she is talking, we see footage of Oprah running around back stage, being tended to by hair and makeup people, in meetings, and in the studio for her radio program. At one point she enters the frame of the camera while walking down a hall. She has a coat draped over her shoulder, looks at the camera and says: “Done with that – on to my next job.”
At that point, Oprah lost me completely.
Here is one of the wealthiest women in the world talking about being overwhelmed because of ‘work’?? I can only imagine how that comment would have sounded to someone who is working two (or more) jobs in order to try to pay the rent and put food on the table. Wikipedia indicates that Oprah’s 2008 salary was $385 million dollars.
I found myself inadvertently yelling at the computer: “Oprah! Have you completely lost your mind??” Who is making you go to work each day? Who controls your schedule? You’re Oprah Winfrey for godsake! You can do whatever you want!”
Clearly Oprah was making a HUGE mistake.
Then I calmed down and decided to do some more research. Now, I believe that the video clip was edited to be a sensationalistic teaser, designed to get you to tune in to the Oprah show to hear more. After reading an article on her website, titled “How Did I Let This Happen Again?“, I discovered that she doesn’t blame “life taking over” for her weight gain. She has a thyroid condition. But she also doesn’t blame the weight gain entirely on the thyroid condition.
She writes:
What I’ve learned this year is that my weight issue isn’t about eating less or working out harder, or even about a malfunctioning thyroid. It’s about my life being out of balance, with too much work and not enough play, not enough time to calm down. I let the well run dry.
When I stop and ask myself, “What am I really hungry for?” the answer is always “I’m hungry for balance, I’m hungry to do something other than work.” If you look at your overscheduled routine and realize, like I did, that you’re just going and going and that your work and obligations have become a substitute for life, then you have no one else to blame. Only you can take the reins back.
That’s what I’m doing. These days I’ve put myself back on my own priority list; I try to do at least one hour of exercise five or six days a week. As I work out, eat healthfully, and reorder my life so there’s time to replenish my energy, I continue to do the spiritual and emotional work to conquer this battle once and for all.
If I could offer a word of advice to Oprah, it would be this: “It’s all a choice.“ Especially for someone as powerful as Oprah. She can choose how much or how little she wants to work. She can choose to utilize the army of personal trainers, nutritionists, doctors and specialists that she has available to her. Or she can choose not to.
For her sake, and for the sake of everyone who is looking to her for an example, I sincerely hope that Oprah realizes the power of choosing the life you want. This is a choice that you make moment by moment, day by day.
~~~
Note: Writing this article has moved me to put my words into action. Read Choose, Then Act!
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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