The most important conversation you'll ever have.

The most important conversation you ever have is the one you have with yourself on your deathbed.

That moment is a reckoning—the time when you answer the question, “What meaning did my life have?”

After all, your life’s meaning is derived from what you did while it was yours to do something with.

However, you can’t know when that conversation will happen or even if you will get to have it.

What to do?

Better to have that conversation sooner rather than later.

“Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what is left and live it properly.”—Marcus Aurelius

Maybe suggesting that you imagine a conversation with your dying self lands as morbid? That’s partly intentional, a bit of “empathetic antagonism.”

I want to get under your skin to encourage you to have this difficult conversation now so you don’t have a regretful one later.

If today was your dying day, what would you celebrate? What would you regret?

What strengths would you embrace more fully? 

What self-limiting beliefs would you erase more completely?

Make a list of both celebrations and regrets, strengths and limitations.

Now, what can you do right now to begin making your list of regrets shorter? How might you erase limitations? 

What can you do to make your list of your celebrations longer? How might you better embrace your strengths?

(This is an excerpt from The Art of Encore Living: A Guide for Finding Fulfillment, Forging Meaning, & Making a Difference in the Second Half of Life).

Scott Perry, Encore Life Coach at The Art of Encore Living

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