Refuse to Settle. Make your days count !!!





Musings from a  Recliner – 0530 hrs – 17 Feb 2019.
                                                                      ~ Lally Virk.

‘Random thoughts’…………..!!!

'Die Empty' – Refuse to settle. Make your days count.

“Embrace the importance of now, and refuse to allow the lull of comfort, fear, familiarity, and ego to prevent you from taking action on your ambitions. The cost of inaction is vast. Don’t go to your grave with your best work inside of you. Choose to 'die empty'.”

The most valuable land in the world is not Manhattan, or Buckingham Palace or the gold mines of Africa or the oil fields of Saudi Arabia. The most valuable land in the world is the graveyard. In the graveyard are buried all the ‘unwritten novels, never launched businesses, un-reconciled relationships, unrealized dreams’ and all the other things that people thought, “I’ll get around that tomorrow….but sadly ran out of tomorrows”.

“Don’t go to your grave with your best work inside of you. Choose to die empty.”

Dying Empty does not entail burning oneself out due to overwork. It’s not the same as getting everything done today. It’s not the same as ‘there’s no tomorrow’.

In his commencement address to the Stanford University class of 2005, the late Apple Co-founder Steve jobs told the students, “I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something’.

Most of us live with the stubborn idea that we’ll always have tomorrow to do our most important and valuable work. We fill our days with frantic activity, bouncing from task to task, scrambling to make deadlines and chase the next promotion. But by the end of each day we’re often left asking ourselves “did the work I did today really matter?” We feel the ticking of the clock, but we’re stuck in first gear, unsure of the path forward and without a road map to guide us.
Here’s the hard truth: sooner or later we will run out of all our tomorrows, so how we choose to spend today is significant. Each day that we postpone difficult tasks and succumb to the clutter that chokes creativity, discipline, and innovation results in a net deficit to our organizations, ourselves and to the world.

It’s not about slaving over a project or living on a whim—it’s about embracing the idea that time is finite and making the unique contribution to the world that only you can make. It’s about finding your ‘sweet spot’…..I’m sure golfers would understand this terminology better. The three critical elements of finding your ‘sweet spot’ are the convergence of passion, talent and money. The last being important because if you have passion and talent but no money, all you have is a hobby. If you have passion and money but no talent, you fail. And if you have talent and money but no passion, you’ll be bored.

Wildly successful executives, philanthropists and thought leaders operate in their “sweet spots.” Remember, if you really want to discover your ‘sweet spot’ you need to get really hangry……no I haven’t spelt that wrong !!

Passion” has its roots in the Latin word pati, which means “to suffer or endure.” Therefore, at the root of passion is suffering. This is a far cry from the way we casually toss around the word in our day-to-day conversations. Instead of asking “What would bring me enjoyment?” which is how many people think about following their passion, we should instead ask “What work am I willing to suffer for today?” Great work requires suffering for something beyond yourself. It’s created when you bend your life around a mission and spend yourself on something you deem worthy of your best effort. Have you discovered your worthwhile cause ? What is your worthwhile cause?

When people begin to experience the lull of mediocrity, they often question whether they are in the right job. They wonder if there might be another one out there that would better suit them, and that might give them the thrill they once experienced before things went south. They may even act on that impulse, hopping to another job or company, and subsequently find that everything is better for a while. The newness is back, and that craved-for sense of challenge has returned. Problem solved? Actually, no. In many of these situations the job hopper is right back in crisis within a matter of months. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with their new job; it’s because they changed their external situation without changing their mind-set and methods. They were trying to solve an internal problem by changing their external circumstances, which rarely works. You have to begin by finding alignment internally, then question your work environment.

Emptying yourself of your best work isn’t just about checking off tasks on your to-do list; it’s about making steady, critical progress each day on the projects that matter, in all areas of life.

You should cultivate the mind-set and the methods you need to sustain your enthusiasm, push through mental barriers, and unleash your best work each day.

To countermand ego, you must adopt a posture of adaptability. This means being in a state of continual learning and openness to correction.

An ounce of preventative discipline today is worth a pound of corrective action later. If assumptions weren’t challenged, innovation would cease.

No one charts a course for mediocrity, yet it is still a destination of choice.

The love of comfort is often the enemy of greatness.

People sell their souls by running away from the battles they know they should be fighting.

Talking of battles.....well for me, 2018 was possibly the toughest year of my life…..it challenged me and pushed me in so many directions. It made me re-address life itself. It taught me so many lessons. It made me realize that I am stronger than I thought I was. Yet it taught me that I am not enough. It taught me that my life is what I make of it and it taught me that, much as people would like to believe, happiness is not in one’s control. It further strengthened my belief that there are no ‘tomorrows’. Life is now, life is here….life is this ‘moment’. As we entered a new year, I breathed a sigh of relief and release.

There comes a time when you begin to realize that the ‘money you are earning is costing you more than you can afford’. That is the time you need to start investing in yourself. You need to ensure that the ‘return on investment’ is worth your time. You need to always keep in mind that you are far more expansive than the margins of your resume.

How would you act differently tomorrow if you knew that your actions and attitude on that one day were going to be a permanent testament to your life?

Today, ensconced on this recliner when I reflect on my life gone by, and look at the trajectory my life took ….uphill or downhill is for the world to judge…. I realise that advertently or inadvertently, knowingly or unknowingly I ensured one thing. I will not ‘die empty’.
I also do realize that it was my genetics that always loaded the gun….but it was a decisive mind that pulled the trigger.
Yes, the game is not over as yet because I do know that the roads are made for journeys and not destinations…….

Remember not all those who wander are lost.

Die with memories, not dreams. 🤔🏌🌴⚔
                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                    Major Harpal Singh Virk (Veteran)

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