A few days ago, I sat down with one of my mentors – a really, really smart, switched-on woman.
We were having a conversation about life and she said to me, “OK Mitch, let’s say you’ve passed away.”
She continues,“You’re at the church and you’re listening to your eulogy being read out. How would you be remembered?”
And I remember sitting there thinking, “Oh, this is a great example for me to bloat and gloat on myself.” So I said, “I’d be remembered for having integrity and being awake and driven and inspired, being loving and da da da da.”
And she said, “OK, that’s lovely. Now I want you to think: Let’s say we’re still there, and somebody is reading out all of the things that you never did, that you wanted to do but you never actually did. What would those things be?”
The list was long, and I started to contemplate what was stopping me from doing those things.
Then did a really cool exercise with me that I want to share with you now.
Exercise 1) Give advice to your younger self
Let’s say you could give yourself some advice from where you are now in your life, but the person that you’re advising is 10 years younger than you now.
- What would you say to that person?
- What advice would you give them about their future relationships?
- What advice would you give them their finances?
- What advice would you give them about their career?
- What advice would you give them around the time that they’ve spent with their family?
- What advice would you actually give yourself if you could look back on time and speak to yourself 10 years ago?
This exercise moved me because I suddenly realised that the conversation I wanted to have with myself 10 years ago would go something like, “Come on, buddy. Be courageous. Step up. Don’t be afraid. Say the things that you want to say. Live your life.”
I think people tend to ignore certain aspects of life and I realised that I had been doing just that. But this simple exercise made me think twice about it.
Exercise 2) Give yourself permission to take risks
Let’s say you could speak to your higher self, the part of yourself that somewhere within the psyche of your mind that has achieved and accomplished everything. I want you to ask that part of your psyche to give you permission to be free, to be awake, to be aware, to not hold back, to have courage.
Write a letter to your higher self. Ask your higher self to give you permission to be all the things that you perceive you’ve not yet managed to become or achieve.
Exercise 3) Give your own eulogy
Let’s say you pass away, and you’re at your own funeral. You’re listening to your eulogy being read out.
How would you want to be remembered? And what are the things that you would have fulfilled in your life that you would have loved to have been remembered for fulfilling?
I want you to think about the people’s lives that you touched as a result of not holding back, of actually going for it and really, really setting yourself up in whatever way.
And then resolve to give yourself that better life
These exercises made a huge difference in my life because they helped me put a stop to repetitive cycles and harness and direct my potential.
I realised that I didn’t want to be remembered on my deathbed for leaving a burning trail of unfinished business: you know, people that I hadn’t told I love, and relationships that I’d messed up.
They made me strive to become a loving, caring, compassionate, empathetic human being who makes a real difference in people’s lives.