A Very Personal Question

Hey Friends,

I'd like to ask you a very personal question. If you're feeling brave, I'd love to receive a reply from you sharing your own thoughts.

What, according to you, is the point of your life?

I'm not asking from a philosophical or religious point of view. I mean according to you. How have you defined your mission in life?

When I ask myself this question it scares me quite a lot. Especially when I ask it to myself after binging YouTube for 4 hours to dull my mind after a long day of work and cleaning dog vomit out of the carpet.

On days like that it's hard not to answer that my mission in life is simply to survive.

For that reason, I've found it useful to put some effort into proactively crafting a mission for my life.

May I share an exercise from the legendary Stephen Covey that has made all the difference for me? It's a bit morbid, but I suppose that's why it works.

Here we go...

Imagine that you've pulled a Tom Sawyer and are attending your own funeral.

As you look at the program, you see there will be four speakers. The first is a member of your family. The second is one of your friends. The third is from your work or profession. The fourth is from your church or some community organization where you've been involved in service.

Now think deeply.

What would you like each of these people to say about you and your life? What kind of person would you like their words to reflect? What kind of spouse, parent, child, friend, or associate would you like them to describe? What accomplishments would you like them to remember? What would you like them to forget?

Finally, look at the people in the audience around you. They've made it from all over the country to attend your funeral and pay their respects. Why? What difference would you like to have made in their lives?

This exercise comes from Covey's Habit 2: Begin With The End In Mind. If you participate in it, you will likely feel a connection with some of your deep, fundamental values.

I'd challenge you to try it and to write down the thoughts that come to mind. I think you'll learn something about yourself. And knowing yourself at a deep level is the first step toward creating your very best life.

Have a great week!

Tyler

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📊 ​Everything is budgeting​ - We acknowledge that maybe we love the word "budgeting" too much and what we really mean is "making better decisions".

✍️ Quote Of The Week

We spend countless hours reading, listening to, and watching other people’s opinions about what we should do, how we should think, and how we should live, but make comparatively little effort applying that knowledge and making it our own.

From ​Building A Second Brain​ by Tiago Forte. Resurfaced by ​Readwise​.

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