YOU ARE DYING: So What The Hell are You Doing?

YOU ARE DYING: So What The Hell are You Doing?

As you get older, the perception of time changes in a profound way that’s hard to describe if you’re under 30.

Realizing that our time is limited forces us to focus on what’s really important and to prioritize inspiration over perspiration – in other words, being over just doing or having.

The fact is, every uninspired moment is time that has vanished without purpose, meaning, or fulfillment. Your distractions are robbing you of your life, though you won’t notice it in the moment.

The obsessions that aren’t part of your goals aren’t just distracting you, they’re taking you further away from your health, wealth, and peace of mind.

It might seem like an odd thing to do but there’s tremendous value in stopping and reflecting on whether you’re truly living or just existing.

You’re alive, but are you fully alive?

Are you just being or are you becoming something greater? Becoming is more than repeating, though there is merit to practicing certain repetitive things in order to achieve mastery (think of a tennis player, someone learning a musical instrument, etc.).

This resonates with me because I’ve switched careers several times; you probably will as well by the time you’re in your thirties or forties. This is the world we live in today – the career path that we pursue turns out to be vastly different from what we had envisioned as we come to understand the immense price paid for a job that lacks fulfillment or gratification.

Truly living means having the courage to make deep-level changes from time to time. It means changing careers, losing friends who are dragging you down, and giving up pastimes that waste your energy and prevent you from achieving your true potential.

More fundamentally, truly living means connecting to something much deeper than your passions, as we can be passionate about playing video games or posting selfies on Instagram. These are prime examples of passion without purpose, existing without truly living.

Technology is great, but some of the same innovations that were meant to connect us are actually isolating us.

When you find yourself starting projects but not finishing them, there’s a good reason for that: your subconscious mind is trying to tell you something. Instead of beating yourself up for not finishing a task, consider whether the task is actually helping you fulfill your purpose. If it doesn’t challenge you and push you to excel, it might be practice but it’s certainly not progress.

An inspired life is driven, but it’s so much more than that. Chances are you’re so busy thinking about the what that you’re not questioning the why of your actions and, really, of your life. You’re going through the motions and getting by – maybe even getting ahead – but ahead isn’t the same as better just as money isn’t the same as prosperity.

We will all die and disappear someday, but time doesn’t have to defeat us. Moments are rife with choices and you can choose to connect with your true purpose in your pursuits and your relationships – our time is limited, but our potential isn’t.