How Will You Live Your Last Day?
Steve Jobs: Live Each Day As If It Was Your Last
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, some day 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.
“Today I shed my old skin which hath, too long, suffered the bruises of failures and the wounds of mediocrity. My vigor will increase, my enthusiasm will rise, my desire to meet the world will overcome every fear I once knew at sunrise, and I will be happier than I ever believed is possible to be in the world of strife and sorrow.”
Make a habit of embracing each day as the start of a new year and begin living a life without limits and filled with endless possibilities for opportunity and happiness.
Over the past ten years that Russell and I have been together we’ve shared many conversations about life and how we want to live. We are often influenced by the lives and words of inspirational people and make an effort to live according to their wisdom. One such example is Russell’s desire to keep his professional and personal lives separate. He has always made an effort to avoid bringing his work home and because so much of his time is spent making recruiting phone calls, he avoids walking into the house while talking on his phone. Instead, he tries to end his conversation before entering so he can greet us as Dad, and not Coach. Now, sometimes this works and other times it doesn’t, but the idea he received from a colleague is a great one. The colleague instructed him that in order to give his family 100% of his attention, he imagines hanging his professional attire and briefcase on a tree branch outside of his house and enters his home as Dad and husband.
A similar analogy that has most recently spoken to me is the first scroll in Og Mandino’s book, The Greatest Salesman in the World. All ten scrolls are wonderfully valuable and throughout the Journey we will explore each one and use them as a source of inspiration and wisdom. However for now, I’m going to stick with the first scroll which is “Today I begin a new life.”
Each day we are awarded is like beginning a new day and so we have to live each of these as if it were our last.
keithmasterkey 
How wonderful to have mastered leaving work out of the home – fantastic. I really like hanging the briefcase in the tree, love it. I have to agree the first scroll is my favorite. Thanks for sharing.
Keith, not bring work into family time is a habit more people should acquire.
Thank you, thank you for sharing the Og Mandino recording. I did not know there was one; now I will be listening to it all the time. That is a great example how to keep business and family separate.