Begin With the End In Mind - Tips to Make Your Life More Meaningful

What would you change if you knew you would be dead in 1 day? Would you spend more time at work, pouring over budget figures, and trying to figure out how you were going to make this quarter's numbers? Would you read just 1 more e-mail from a complaining co-worker? Would you check your voicemail one last time? What would your obituary say about your life?

If you're like me, I'd bet you wouldn't do anything work-related. In fact, I would bet you would see if there was any way to extend that 1 day into 6 months or more, because there is SO much you have yet to accomplish. You would vow to make a difference in your family, with your friends, in your community, maybe even in the world. Maybe you'd see if you could sky dive, climb Pike's Peak, or snorkel the Great Barrier Reef.

If you knew when the end was, I'd guess you would do all those things you've been meaning to do, but that you just never had the time to do.

Guess what? You won't know when the end is, so you better start living like you were dying today! Dr. Steven Covey, in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People talks about how we each must begin with the end in mind. This is as valuable advice for your life, just as it is valuable for goal setting, projects, or anything else you do in your work.

Take the time to write your personal mission statement. Franklin Covey has a great free tool to help you do this, located at http://www.franklincovey.com/missionbuilder/

I strongly encourage you to take 30-40 minutes to build your personal mission statement, your team mission statement, and share this with others that you feel may benefit from this life clarity.

Now that you have this clarity what will you do to make your life better on a daily basis? My goal is to pack the rest of the book full of little things you can do to take control of your life and Make It Great!I hope you are able to glean one or two nuggets that you can immediately put to work in your family, your life, your world, and that after finishing this book, you are ready to Make it Great! Think about the one thing you can you do to make your life better right now?

Then do it right now and do whatever it takes to Make It Great!

Phil Gerbyshak leads a team of people as manager of an IT Help Desk in Milwaukee, WI, and finds that sharing his knowledge is a crucial component for success as a leader and as a person. Phil's personal philosophy is paraphrased from Tim Sanders' fantastic book Love is the Killer App: "Share your knowledge, your network, and your love. The rest will follow."

Feel free to contact Phil at http://makeitgreat.org or call 414.640.7445 anytime.

Blasting Out of the Shadows: The Power of Your True Voice

First, let me share a quote from Ashlee Simpson's latest... Read More

A Cat In The Hand Is Worth Two Birds In The Bush!

I bought this computer just over two years ago with... Read More

Commitment To The Journey

I have been a business owner for about a minute.... Read More

Careful What You Wish For...

I have always been fascinated by the concept of "wishing.",... Read More

Taking Life Head On

"We are built to conquer environment, solve problems, achieve goals... Read More

Passion: What It Means To Live With It

Passion can guide you, not just to live, but to... Read More

Journals You Can Keep

Besides your daily feelings, thoughts, and experiences journal, there are... Read More

Don?t Let the Boogeyman Steal Your Dreams

The boogeyman lurking in the closet scares the bejesus out... Read More

A Rush Home to Rapture

Riding a rush, being juiced, flying high-this is the feeling... Read More

Inspiration From Jack Dempsey

I really like Jack Dempsey's great one liner: "A champion... Read More

Energy Work Basics Part 1: So What is Energy?

Everything is made of energy. Atoms, molecules, light, sound and... Read More

20 Ways To Improve Your Life

People often ask me how they can improve their lives.I... Read More

Learn From Failure and Confirm with Success

Both failure and success are good... if you know what... Read More

Keeping Faith

Direct Answers - Column for the week of June 30,... Read More

Wanna Trade Places?

Even immediately after my car accident, every single person who... Read More

Whose Decision

Direct Answers - Column for the week of May 5,... Read More

Forgiveness

"If unresolved anger is a toxin to the spirit, forgiveness... Read More

Inspiration From Other People - Is It Worth Listening To A Film Star?

Yesterday, I listened to an interview with Michael York, the... Read More

Freudian Slip

Direct Answers - Column for the week of November 17,... Read More

Take Out Time -- To Just Be Thankful

While sitting here tonight, watching the conclusion of "There Are... Read More

Case Closed

Direct Answers - Column for the week of October 27,... Read More

The Essence Of Freedom

Life is too hard and too risky in the eyes... Read More

Have You Ever Felt GOD in You?

God is the primordial Creative Force that is believed to... Read More

Adages for the New Age

The old familiar adages just don't do it for me... Read More

When Self-Growth becomes Self-Sabotage

Many of us invest quality time and energy into our... Read More