Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono and freedigitalphotos.net
If you feel stuck in your life, or at a crossroads, or bogged down in procrastination, one of the most powerful and rapid exercises I have come across is the “Year to Live” exercise.
The exercise is simple: Decide how you would live this year if it were your last. At the beginning of each year—on New Year’s Day, or your birthday, or, today —make a list of what you would do if you only had one year left to live. Where would you go? And with whom? Why? Who would you assign your material possessions to? (And make a legal will.)
I have done this exercise several times, and I have found that it accelerated my decision-making process; therefore accelerated my life evolution. You will find that it gets you off the decision making fence. Procrastination ends. You have to decide so you do. Everything speeds up and becomes more vivid and alive.
In my own case, I made some decisions that I regretted, but at least they were now behind me and I am more on my true path because of those decisions. Before, they loomed as attractive possibilities or fantasies of a potential future. Now, they lay behind me as definite and concrete choices made and then rejected. My life has come more into focus, and I have learned more about who I am in terms of what I want versus what I need, and what I have to offer this world.
Another profound part of this exercise is that one year, it will truly be your last year in this world, and you will have lived it well.
TRY IT
Use your awareness of this finite physical existence to ignite you into action. Remember that you are a microcosm of the world. You have the most control and influence over yourself. Search for obvious ways you can replace old habits that do not serve you with ones that do. For instance:
Every time you read the news, you could be reading the words of the greatest souls who walked the earth.
Every time you do a crossword puzzle, you could instead be figuring out how to solve the puzzle of your life.
Every time you study stats on the sports page, you could instead be studying something that will help transform your life or the life of someone close to you.
What we spend our time on is where we invest our life force. Time = Life. Never kill time, or you will be, in essence, killing your life.
Remember as you transform yourself, you are changing the world.
Max Strom is a teacher, speaker, and author who teaches personal transformation and yoga. His latest book is "A Life Worth Breathing". Please visit his website at MaxStrom.com.
From: Larry Lewis | 4/25/11 at 5:10 pm
Your blog wasbrought to my attention by a fellow blogger. Enjoyed this article and others i have now looked at. I myself have used this exercise to my lifes and careers benefit. I would like to add one further exercise to utilise having first done this wonderful exercise, and that is to - Live each day as if it were your last!
From: laura | 4/29/11 at 11:22 am
thank you for this post
as it happens, i actually MAY only have one year to live.
unfortunately, the events, losses, and recent circumstances have left me truly stuck. it snuffed out my spirit, and led me to eating too much, drinking & smoking too much, which are all detrimental to my health, but i can't find my way back. since i can't actually have you help me "personally transform", i will definitely buy one of your books and hope that helps at least a little. i'm sure i'd pose a challenge to even the greatest minds out there LOL