I want to thank everyone (approximately 400 people so far) who took the "30 Days to Live" survey. The idea of the survey was to get you (myself included) to take a deep look at life. Most of us are running a gazillion miles an hour in multiple different directions simultaneously. No wonder we feel strrrreeeetched! Painful just to picture, isn’t it? However, when we take a moment to stop and consider having only 30 days to live, an undeniable clarity of personal priorities quickly comes to focus.
By far the number one response (over 50% of the votes and 5 times more than anything else) was, “Spend time with family.” In solid second was, “Get spiritual life in order.” Third was an interesting tie between, “Witness to others” and, “Be adventurous.” Surprisingly, “Read Chuck Goetschel’s blog” wasn’t in the top 10! It did get at least one vote…so, thanks Mom. J
The big question at hand is, “What now?” You probably have more than 30 days to live (although nobody knows) but that’s not the point. The point is now that you have clarified what you value most in life, why wouldn’t you focus on it whether you have 30 days or 30+ years to live?
If your answer was, “Spend time with family,” can you redesign your life to put family time as a higher priority? Perhaps, it’s time to cut out the, ‘flop-in-front-of-the-tv-cause-I-deserve-it’ habit and go make a special memory with your spouse or kids. Perhaps, there is a family member that needs a call, a note, some encouragement, or simply an acknowledgement from you. What if you listened to your family as if you really only had 30 days to live? What if you went after creating memories with them as if you only had 30 days to do it? What would happen to your family if you put that kind of focus and intensity into them? Would it be worth it? For more than half of you, this was your first choice. Let your life reflect it. Let your family and the world know it.
If getting your spiritual life in order was your top choice, what can you do right now for that? If you have any question whatsoever as to the journey you will make after you die, I hope you will make getting that in order a priority. Eternity is a long time. Why will everyone invest time to plan a vacation but only some people invest time to plan their trip after life on earth? Being this was the second highest answer in the survey, it is obviously important to many people. Here are three questions to get clear answers to:
- Is there life after death?
- If so, what will it be like for me? (Heaven/Hell/other?)
- On what authority do I base my thinking?
My objective in this posting is simply to encourage you to live your life like you were dying. Steven Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, says, “Begin with the end in mind.” That is, make decisions today based on leading your life to a fulfilling conclusion rather than to make decisions today based on short-term pleasures. Ironically, by living with the end in mind, you will find far more immediate pleasure than ever before. Being focused on that which you really value will yield a deep contentment. True joy comes from living ‘on-purpose’ rather than ‘by accident.’