How would you do things differently today, if you knew you only had a year to live?
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want to share with you what I’m thankful for and share a concept that has changed the way I view life. I’m thankful for my health and each day we are given. I’m also thankful for you thank you for allowing me to share this blog with you each week.
“Your money is not your wealth; your time and your health are your wealth.”
This concept of wealth was at the foundation of the talk I gave to the Boston Banking and Professionals Organization last week. It is what I call my “Million Dollar Mindset”. Imagine telling a group of bankers and wealth management advisors their money was not their wealth. Judging from the response, I think I got through to them. One advisor actually remarked to me he markets himself as managing people’s material wealth so they can enjoy their real wealth (time). I asked him how he holds himself accountable to do the same for himself and he explained he has hired a coach. (He earned himself a high five for that one!)
We all have a limited amount of time on this earth yet we tend to approach time as if it is an inexhaustible commodity. There is a quote from Paul Bowles’ book The Sheltering Sky, which sums this up:
“Because we don’t know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. And yet everything happens only a certain number of times and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, an afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you can’t even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more? Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty and yet it all seems limitless.”
This quote meant so much to the actor Brandon Lee (Bruce Lee’s son) he had it inscribed on both his wedding invitation and his tombstone.
If you don’t create a conscious process to remind yourself that each day is a gift you will not maximize that gift. Each morning I wake up and read the following quote to remind myself to approach the day with a million dollar mindset. I encourage you to do the same.
“This is the beginning of a new day. I’ve been given this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good, but what I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it! When tomorrow comes this day will be gone forever leaving in its place something that I have traded for it. I want it to be gain not loss good not evil ” success not failure in order that I shall not regret the price that I have paid for it.”
(Heartsill Wilson, 1954)
This quote is also printed on a card I carry in my wallet to read throughout the day. (email john@coachbru.com & I’ll send you one)