"When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."
I see a flaw in this logic. One certain bad thing that will happen to you if you leave every day as if it is your last is that you'll end up being > 200 kg (would you go to the gym the last day of your life? Would you resist the urge to eat as much as you like?). Another is that you will stop learning anything (would you go to your french course in your last day?) Another is that you might become a drug addict (some people might decide to see how crack feels like in their last day, something they wouldn't do otherwise). Another is ... ok, I believe you get the point.
The flaw in your logic is that it focuses only on instinctual pleasure and not that of a higher nature. For every "would you...?" that you propose, there is a large group of people who would say, "yes".
The trick to happiness is not always to change what you're doing; it is often to change your thinking about what you're doing. To be conscious enough of yourself to know when you are full and when you are eating food that will make you feel shitty later. To feel the pleasurable burning of your muscles and your mind as you work out and learn new things. To avoid doing anything that will later rob the little time that you have.
I don't claim to be able to do all of this myself, but I have resolved to try to stay focused on these things. There is much beauty in the world, much to experience, without changing anything but your mind.
You missed my point completely. YES. With the right mindset, there is pleasure in exercise and learning, you realize that gorging yourself will make you feel like crap later, and with only a day left, I would hardly want to waste it out of my mind on drugs.
"The object isn’t to be perfect. The goal isn’t to hold back until you’ve created something beyond reproach. I believe the opposite is true. Our birthright is to fail and to fail often, but to fail in search of something bigger than we can imagine. To do anything else is to waste it all."
Kinda reminds me of Guy Kawasaki's, "Make Meaning". It's so easy for a hacker to fall into the trap of working on something cool that is of little value to anyone. Taking a step back and asking, "Is it worthy?" may be the best time management technique of all.
Speaking from personal experience, I think people would be experience more happiness if they stopped getting so stuck up on themselves (and their perceptions of what other people might thank) and just did what they wanted to do (as long as it was "legal" by societal norms). Go ahead, sing in public
Could I trouble someone to paste the text? I haven't figured out how to navigate the Great Firewall of China yet, and for some reason, I can't get to seth godin's site. Thanks in advance.
I’ve paid for the rent and the furnishings and the menus and the staff and the insurance... is this plate of food worthy of what went before it?
I’ve flown across the country to visit this museum--a building that cost more than a billion dollars to create and fill and maintain. Is my attention focused enough?
We paid $300 in marketing costs just to get this phone to ring this one time. How shall we answer it?
I’ve had a great education, suffered and scraped and scrounged to get this point... is this diagnosis, this surgery, this prescription, this bedside manner the end that justifies that effort?
We live in a stable democracy, a place where people have lived and died to give us the freedom to speak out... is that talking head or this spinning pundit the best we can do? Or is he just trying to make a profit and air another commercial?
Is cutting corners to make a buck appropriate when you consider what you could have done? What would someone with a bigger vision have done instead?
Is being negative or bitter or selfish within reason in face of how extraordinarily lucky we were to have been been born here and born now?
I take so much for granted. Perhaps you do as well. To be here, in this moment, with these resources. To have not just our health but the knowledge and the tools and the infrastructure. What a waste.
If I hadn’t had those breaks, if there weren’t all those people who had sacrificed or helped or just stayed out of my way... what then? Would I even have had a shot at this?
What if this were my last post? Would this post be worthy?
The object isn’t to be perfect. The goal isn’t to hold back until you’ve created something beyond reproach. I believe the opposite is true. Our birthright is to fail and to fail often, but to fail in search of something bigger than we can imagine. To do anything else is to waste it all.
I agree with Seth. It's hard to swallow pride, but failure is often one's greatest success. As for me, failure has been my real-life MBA and I did not have to go into debt to get it. :)
- Steve Jobs