“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
— Steve Jobs
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
— Gandalf, in JRR Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings
We all face challenges. But if we had been born 100 years ago or 100 years in the future, things would be no different. We would still face challenges, they would simply be different challenges.
All we have to decide is how we respond: what kind of a future we want to create and what kind of a person we want to become.
Chapter 4 of Inner Leadership contains tools for identifying the best way forward for you and committing to follow that path.
We are not just human beings, we are human becomings.