New Years' Resolution that Changed the Life
When I was 33 years old, I made a new year’s resolution that changed my life. I resolved to live every day of that year as if I only had one year left to live.
At first I thought the resolution would be: to live every day as if it was my last. But I’m pretty sure I’d just want to spend the last day of my life just being with friends and family. If they knew it was my last day, they’d probably take the day off work too -- to be with me.
(Interestingly, I once asked a group of Japanese friends what they’d do on the last day of their lives. Every one I asked said they’d do what they do everyday – just go to work and continue as usual. It wasn’t until an American friend of mine said that he wouldn’t go to work, he’d want to spend the last day completely with his wife. Then all of my Japanese friends changed their minds and said they wouldn’t go to work either but, instead, would do something they truly wanted to do…something that was important to them.)
Then I thought I’d live that calendar year as if it were my last. As I considered that notion, I thought it would lead to diminishing returns at the end of the year. I worried that as I got to November with only a month or two left, I probably wouldn’t want to take on any big challenges or start any new project. There would be too little time left.
Finally, I came up on the notion of waking up every day and thinking “If I only had 365 days left to live, what would I do today?”
One year is really enough to do many things. Here’s a few that were completed in less than a year – start to finish:
• The original IBM PC
• Wembley Stadium (London)
• George Orwell’s Animal Farm
• Samuel Morse’s first telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore
• Verdi’s Requiem Mass
• The animated film, Toy Story 2
• Most Hollywood movies
Naturally, many of these involve more than one person, but if you get the right support and with the right motivation, you can do a LOT in one year! And every one of the above started with one person.
At first I thought the resolution would be: to live every day as if it was my last. But I’m pretty sure I’d just want to spend the last day of my life just being with friends and family. If they knew it was my last day, they’d probably take the day off work too -- to be with me.
(Interestingly, I once asked a group of Japanese friends what they’d do on the last day of their lives. Every one I asked said they’d do what they do everyday – just go to work and continue as usual. It wasn’t until an American friend of mine said that he wouldn’t go to work, he’d want to spend the last day completely with his wife. Then all of my Japanese friends changed their minds and said they wouldn’t go to work either but, instead, would do something they truly wanted to do…something that was important to them.)
Then I thought I’d live that calendar year as if it were my last. As I considered that notion, I thought it would lead to diminishing returns at the end of the year. I worried that as I got to November with only a month or two left, I probably wouldn’t want to take on any big challenges or start any new project. There would be too little time left.
Finally, I came up on the notion of waking up every day and thinking “If I only had 365 days left to live, what would I do today?”
One year is really enough to do many things. Here’s a few that were completed in less than a year – start to finish:
• The original IBM PC
• Wembley Stadium (London)
• George Orwell’s Animal Farm
• Samuel Morse’s first telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore
• Verdi’s Requiem Mass
• The animated film, Toy Story 2
• Most Hollywood movies
Naturally, many of these involve more than one person, but if you get the right support and with the right motivation, you can do a LOT in one year! And every one of the above started with one person.
