The other day I saw this exact sentence scrawled on the wall of a mansion some startup guys were launching their new incubator from. The walls of the massive rooms were covered in Idea Paint and covered with thousands of great concepts. This idea though struck a particularly deep cord, so much so I haven’t been able to shake the words for days now.
What would your life be like if you thought this year may be your last?
I’m not saying you have an absolute guarantee that it would be your last – if that was the case you may drop out of the workforce, live on a beach and spend your days writing letters to your loved ones. More the feeling you’d get if every day you knew you had a 50/50 chance of dying. You may still live within the rules somewhat, but you’d also take a lot of chances that could produce amazing results – because in reality, what the flip would you have to lose?
Imagine that feeling – living like 2012 is the last year you get to live your life the way you’ve always wanted.
That freedom, that amazing, tantalizing fearlessness comes only from having nothing to lose. This is why people can go from complete anonymity to extreme fame in only a few short years (think Lady GaGa). If you have nothing to lose – and everything to gain – you can take risks that the rest of the World would never fathom.
The problem is that most of us get comfy. This comfort can be completely crippling when it comes to doing amazing things, living your life to the fullest and truly experiencing the World around you.
That’s why I’m choosing to make my “New Year resolution” a simple, solitary one – I want to become fearless in 2012 and I think the best way to do so is to live like 2012 really is the end of the World.
What would you do if 2012 did truly mark the end of the World?
- Would you tell the person you’ve been in love with for years the truth?
- Would you take a huge business risk that would either sink your startup or sky-rocket it’s success?
- Would you travel more?
- Would you spend more time with the people you love?
- Would you spend less time with the people you hate?
- Would you explore more?
- Would you laugh more?
- Would you spend more time on the things that matter?
- Would you experience life to the fullest?
- Would you live fearlessly?
What I can definitely say, without knowing you at all, is that you wouldn’t approach your life (like most people do) with the concept of loss-minimization. Instead you’d try to maximize the two things that matter the most when a planet is ending – time & experience.
Time and experience, ironically these are also the two values that we built Zirtual on. If you have all the time in the World but don’t experience life, it’s wasted. If you have all the money and access to amazing experiences, but no time – again you’re screwed. That’s why it’s so important to maximize both.
Malcolm X once said that the greatest enemy a man can have is fear. In 2012, try to live fearlessly and keep in mind that you never know when your World is going to be over – so live life extraordinarily.
