Live Like You’re Dying- 5 areas to live life to the fullest
“Man, what’d you do?”
And he said
”I went skydiving
I went Rocky Mountain climbing
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu
And I loved deeper
And I spoke sweeter
And I gave forgiveness I’d been denying”
And he said
”Someday I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dying””
Live Like You’re Dying - The Ron Worley Story
Ron Worley spent his youth consuming drugs and alcohol to the point that he stole a friend’s truck, wrecked it, and was investigated by police about driving under the influence. His lifestyle cost him relationships and opportunities. Ron was homeless, addicted, and alone. He had hit rock bottom in life.
It was the help of a mentor and the decision to turn his life around that he created “The Worley Way”, a set of personal principles that would drive his life going forward. Addiction lost its hold on him, he met a woman whom he married, raised a family, and built businesses that turned him into a millionaire.
That’s when life threw another curveball at Ron. He was about to begin a training session with local law enforcement when he felt himself slip out of consciousness. When he woke up, he was in a hospital bed, and was later informed that he had survived the widow maker of heart attacks. The prognosis was grim. Ron had less than five years left to live statistically speaking.
Man, what did he do?
Ron has spent the past six years living out his bucket list. He’s fulfilling dreams such as being in a film, publishing a book, and sharing his code of honor, The Worley Way, with audiences globally.
The bottom line is Ron chose to leave behind any inkling of self-pity and continue to intentionally live his life to the fullest. He shares his story on Beyond the Rut.
What if You Only Have Five Years Left to Live?
That was the question posed by the host of Beyond the Rut, Jerry Dugan, years ago. It reframed everything he had been doing in his life. That one question renewed a sense of urgency to live intentionally and fully in five areas of life. Those five areas are faith, family, fitness, finances, and future possibility. Let’s discuss how each of these areas of life are connected and important.
Faith
This is about believing in something greater than yourself, having a purpose in your life. For some it is a higher power. For others, it is an ideal like creating Camelot or ending an injustice.
What is the change you want to see in the world? What is your higher purpose going to be? How do you want to impact other people for the better?
Pursuing a path where you know and feel you will make a significant impact in the lives of others is a key element on how to live a fulfilling life. You’re living by a code, a mantra, and carrying out a mission.
Family
There is the family you are born into, good or bad, and there is the family you create. Many of us fall into the trap of showing our coworkers more respect and attention than we do our own families. That can change. Imagine how life would be different if you made your faith your top priority followed closely by your family relationships. Where does that put your office life on the totem pole?
Your calendar changes when you put your family at a higher priority level than your supervisor at work. You find yourself doing things like getting stuff done and taking time off to be that dad who volunteers in your child’s kindergarten class for a day. Extended lunches get scheduled so you can have a lunch date with your partner. Memories that matter get made.
As a leader, putting your family first AND having a commitment to excellence at work forces you to delegate responsibilities to your team setting them up for success in the process. Extend the same kind of balance to your team members that you are creating for yourself and you have a highly engaged, high-performance team.
The important thing is creating healthy relationships and boundaries that work for your family.
Fitness
Take care of your body, mind, and soul and you’ll set the stage for a long, fulfilled life.
Our levels of physical health can influence our confidence, and maintain our bodies so we can live a little longer to experience a little more.
Mental and emotional health helps us handle the ups and downs life throws at us. One practice picked up from The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor and The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod is to think of three positive things that happened today before going to bed. In the morning, identify three things to look forward to experiencing or accomplishing.
Finances
Money does not buy your happiness, and the pursuit of money is not how you find a life of fulfillment. Money itself is not evil, it is amoral as personal finance guru and author of The Total Money Makeover, Dave Ramsey, likes to say. Money is, however, a resource to be managed.
A lack of it can create stress that distracts us. A fear of not having enough can be a driver for success in our professional lives and our portfolio, but left unchecked that fear leads us to compromising what we state are our beliefs, sacrificing our time with family, or skewing our fitness away from balance.
Whether you make a lot or a little, it is important that you are in control of your finances and making it work for the life you want to build.
Future Possibility
The area of Future Possibility has to do with personal and professional development. You were not meant to live stuck in a rut. Life is just too dang short to live it stuck in a rut. Personal growth prepares you for future possibilities whether or not they are planned. How do you live a fulfilling life beyond the rut? Intentionally make yourself better today than you were yesterday. Take another step forward the next day, and repeat.
Activities and Resources that help us grow include the following:
Reading (including audio books)
Journaling to get your thoughts on paper
Podcasts (listen to great content, produce your own to learn and network)
Conversations with a mentor or coach
Also, this is not just about your own future possibility. It’s also about the impact you want to have on future generations, communities, etc. It all starts with you though. A better you makes a better world around you.
What Will You Do Now?
We just spent time thinking “What if you only have five years left to live?” and shared the five areas of life to balance. The next step is to consider what a life well-lived looks like in each of these five areas as they are connected with each other.
You’re invited to take 20 minutes right now to think about each of these five areas. If you only have five years left to live, what does life look like in the areas of faith, family, fitness, finances, and future possibility?
Once you have that thought out, written down on paper, make it so and live life beyond the rut.
