Happy Friday and welcome back to my 10 Rules for Life article series! The previous four rules are somewhere on the site, I'm sure you can find them. Today we'll cover rule 5, which is: live each year like it's your last. I already talked about the subject about a month ago, and since it's such a life-changing mindset, it needs to be included in the 10 rules.
But yeah, that's it - live your life as if you knew it'll end next New Year's! Woo hoo, you're gonna die!
The effect of this mindset is that you'll worry less about stupid things and focus more on making life the best it can be. Who cares about inconsiderate relatives or horrible bosses or counting calories when you only have until the end of the year to explore life?
What's more, as someone who really, really doesn't like summer and heat, I can see all the wonderful things that summer does have to offer, when I think about it as the last summer ever. Cold brew coffee and ice cold alcoholic beverages, swimming, road trips in an air conditioned car... I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually looking forward to it.
You'll also get to doing all the things you've always wanted to do. It's like that famous effect that cancer patients experience when they're told the bad news: they forget the unimportant things and focus on what they consider important. (This often ends up saving their lives, but I suppose only if they don't think it will.)
Make yourself believe you only have so long to live, and then go live with that mindset.
RK
