There’s a quote from Steve Jobs that, when I start to feel overwhelmed, always pops into my mind because it’s cited often: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” But if we go a little further, Jobs adds, “And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become.”
Follow Your Heart
It’s hard to follow your heart in a world where there are so many expectations placed upon us from a young age. I did a lot of things to please my parents because I did not want to disappoint them. For a long time, I attended work events that drained my energy until I finally had the courage to set boundaries about what I do and won’t do. The worst part was that I put off pursuing my creativity because a lot of people said I needed a sure thing.
But when you’re always doing things to please others, eventually the resentment creeps in. And if you don’t realize that your time is limited, then you’ll always be living someone else’s life. That jeopardizes your happiness. I learned a long time ago that I’m responsible for my happiness, and it’s something I must work at every day. As Tal Ben-Shahar reminds us in his book, Happier: “If we want to find happiness, we must commit ourselves to working hard at it, for while there is one easy step to unhappiness—doing nothing—there are no easy steps to happiness.”1
Your Time is Limited
I’ve never been one to care about age, but when I turned fifty I noticed that life took on a bit more urgency. I’m asking myself more often, “What do I really want?” Yes, I’ve done a lot—I’m a published author, marathoner, artist—but I know I’m done. And knowing that I’m closer to the end of my terrestrial journey than the beginning, I absolutely realize that my time is limited.
So, here’s some free, unsolicited advice. Please, don’t wait. Don’t wait to start your business, write your book or get in that first workout. And don’t wait to send that long overdue note to your grandmother, or anything else you’ve dreamed of doing. Because you don’t know if you’ll get the chance to do any of that tomorrow. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it.
So let me, then, leave you today with this last thought…
You are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And, best of all, you do not need anyone’s permission to be—unapologetically—who you are.
- Ben-Shahar, T. (2007). Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment, New York, McGraw-Hill, pp. 165–166. [↩]
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