In our last several +1s, we’ve been exploring wisdom from Steven Hayes’ great book Get Out of Your Mind & Into Your Life.
We’re going to wrap up that quick tour Today.
Let’s get straight to work.
It’s time to attend your own funeral.
Steven tells us: “When people die, what is left behind is what they stood for. Think of someone who is no longer alive but whose life you look up to and admire. Think of your heroes. Now see if it isn’t true that what they stood for is now, after their passing, most important. What’s important is neither their material possessions nor their inner doubts. The values reflected in their lives are what’s important.”
He continues by saying: “The way you would want to be remembered once your life is over should give you a very good idea about what you value now. We don’t know what anyone would say at your funeral, but we do know that your actions today can make a profound difference in how your life works from here. It is not your thoughts, feelings, or bodily sensations that your loved ones will remember you by, but the choices you make and the actions you take each day of your life. Couldn’t that begin today? Couldn’t that begin now?”
That’s from one of the final chapters called “Choosing Your Values.”
After establishing the fact that we ALL experience pain and suffering then encouraging us to ACCEPT that fact and quit avoiding things that might trigger psychological pain, Steven tells us how to make strong COMMITMENTS in our lives to create a vital life of meaning.
The VERY FIRST EXERCISE he has us do?
It’s the same one WE have YOU do when you go through Basic Training in the Heroic app.
And, it’s the same one our Heroic Coaches have their clients do—which happens to be the same one I did with my very first coaching client over 20 years ago.
Steven has you imagine your own eulogy.
So...
If you feel so inspired, imagine someone getting up there and talking about YOU at the end of YOUR LIFE.
Note: As part of this visualization process, Steven does a little tweak on my “Quick Trip to Hell” exercise.
He has you imagine TWO eulogies—one where the individual talks about your life if you continue on the sub-optimal path you might be on right now and the other based on who you COULD become if you started practicing your philosophy and living in greater integrity with your deepest values.
He also throws in a great, sobering reflection…
Imagine what the person REALLY thinks about you. We all very warmly pay our respects for the deceased at a funeral and focus on their positive qualities.
But...
We often also know a lot of the less savory stuff is left UNSAID.
(Right?)
Then…
After helping us establish the “values” by which we want to live our lives (what we call VIRTUES!), he helps us set specific goals in specific domains and specific behaviors you will engage in to achieve those goals and win the ultimate game of living a values-driven life.
Now...
The question is...
If we know the virtues by which we want to be remembered and the behaviors we need to engage in to embody those virtues and create a wonderful life...
Isn’t TODAY a great day to get to work?
Indeed it is.
And…
Know this…
We architected THE ENTIRE HEROIC APP with *this* wisdom in mind.
So…
With all that in mind...
Let’s ACCEPT our life as it is and COMMIT to moving from theory to practice to mastery together…
TODAY.
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