10 Rules For a Life You Won’t Regret on Your Deathbed
1 – Do the things that scare the sh*t out of you 😱
Our greatest regrets are almost never the things we did but the things we didn’t do…
What are you scared of?
Those are the things you need to lean into…
• Quit that job you hate
• Downsize your house to travel
• Write that book you’ve dreamed of
We often times put off doing the things in our heart because we’re terrified of what others will think or do.
Guess what?
In 100 years, nobody will remember you or that person that stopped you from chasing your dreams.
So who gives a crap what they think?
I promise you they won’t be on their deathbed thinking about you.
But you’ll be on your deathbed thinking about how you didn’t pursue your dreams.
2 – Master the art of your kitchen table 🌶️
Its no coincidence that the two wisest people ever to walk the earth valued meals together above all:
King Solomon said almost everything is meaningless except eating and drinking with your friends.
"So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun." - Ecclesiastes 8:15
Jesus spent the very last hours of his time on earth in what is famously known as The Last Supper.
Meaning.... of the things He could have done, He wanted to eat with His friends.
Eating together does 3 things:
• Crushes your loneliness
• Slows down the flight of time
• Comforts your soul through food
Never underestimate the power of a good meal with good people.
3 – Schedule a daily meeting with the sun rise ☀️
The only way to slow the immense flight of time in your life is to pour yourself into the present moment.
Sit with the sunrise.
Be grateful for yet another day.
Write down your aspirations of what you hope you accomplish today.
Praise God for the breathe, light and people around you.
Don’t let commutes and meetings rob you of the natural entrance to gratitude and peace that is the morning sunrise.
4 – Throw the Jonah’s off your boat 🐳
Toxic people bring their storms of life into yours.
Just like the story of Jonah.
He ran away from his problems, got on a boat with other people and caused their lives to suffer.
And what did they do with Jonah?
They threw him off the boat!
Toxic people will drain your:
• Joy
• Focus
• Energy
Life’s too short to keep the Jonah’s of the world on your boat.
Toss them off and make room for the people who bring the sunshine, not the storms.
5 – See if you can out-give God 🤝
God is a generous God.
His word commands us to be a generous people.
Not to make you broke and struggling, but because God knows that generosity is the key to happiness.
The more you give, the more you get.
In fact, I’ve never met anybody who went broke being generous.
Because when we’re generous, God blesses us.
With happiness and provision.
Take it as a challenge → I bet you can’t be so generous that God won’t out-give you.
6 – Run a marathon every single year 🏃
77-year-old Patty Hung has run the Boston Marathon every single year for the last 37 years.
Most people think they’re too old to run a marathon but she started when she was 40.
And she kept her health, vitality and energy but putting herself on the hook to run one every single year.
We die too early to aching backs and chronic diseases simply because we don’t move our bodies.
Don’t believe the lies of those who say:
• Running hurts your knees
• You’ll injure yourself
• You’re too old for it
Who is this advice coming from?
Usually from people who are:
• Overweight
• Unhappy
• Lazy
Listen to the advice of the people you want to become like.
If you want to be:
• Happy
• Strong
• Healthy
Be like Patty Hung.
7 – Spend hours where it feels like minutes 🎧
You are wired to love things other people hate.
That’s not an accident.
Lean into that.
What feels like play to you but work to others?
• Writing?
• Designing?
• Woodworking?
Once you find the thing that you can do for hours (but it feels like minutes..) — schedule it.
Put it on your calendar daily.
This is called Human Work.
Even God created for six days before He rested on the seventh.
8 – Never skip a Sunday Sabbath 😴
Sabbath has been essentially obliterated by society.
But your soul still yearns for it.
What is Sabbath?
It’s a day where:
• You don’t go shopping
• You don’t do housework
• You don’t build your career
So what do you do?
• Take an afternoon nap
• Eat comforting healthy meals
• Go for long walks with your family
• Sit on your patio with close friends
• Play games and laugh with your family
Think of a it like a mini-holiday every single Sunday.
What do you do on Christmas Day?
You’re not checking your email, responding to work and consuming Instagram.
You’re enjoying those closest to you.
What if I told you that’s what Sabbath is but every Sunday?
Don’t let society pressure you into skipping Christmas every week.
9 – Put in overtime with your kids ❤️
How many days have you stayed late at the office and missed dinner with your family?
Or traveled on weekends for work trips?
Or taken “emergency” calls and texts while you should be having wine with your spouse?
It’s time to put your priorities in place.
Reverse the overtime.
Leave the office early.
Take extra long weekends with your kids.
Respond to texts and FaceTimes from your family to keep up with them throughout the day.
Jobs come and go.
Your family is forever.
10 – Die empty ⚰️
Society tries to sell us on the idea of spending our lives building our own mini-Kingdoms.
With the focus on:
• Buying huge houses
• Driving the nicest cars
• Collecting the finest watches
Guess what? You can’t take any of it with you.
Can I serve you with another idea?
You have things yearning in your soul that you want to give to the world instead of get from the world…
You have:
• Books you want to write
• Companies you want to build
• Relationships you want to create
Do you want to sit on your deathbed realizing you never did those things?
That you’re so full of life but no time to live it?
Write every book in your heart.
Travel to every country in your dreams.
Spend time with every person you love.
Leave no stone unturned in your soul.
In other words, die empty.
With nothing else left to give.
For the greatest reward you can get is to know you gave everything you had.