Do what matters, now

“The life you have left is a gift. Cherish it. Enjoy it now, to the fullest. Do what matters, now.”

―Leo Babauta

If you aren't in love, really and truly IN LOVE, with some aspect of your life or career, make a change. What are you waiting for?

Far too often I see people (myself included!) continuing to do something they don't love because they lack the courage to make a change. But rest assured, any time I am not making a change because I'm afraid of the uncertainty on the other side of it, I tell myself a great story that involves all sorts of reasons other than fear to justify it in my head. And I always believe that story, too!

I can't tell you how many TEM Coaching clients I've had over the years who wrestled with a decision that to me as an outsider was an obvious one and when they finally made it they were ecstatic they did.

And I would be remiss to not point out that even though I'm someone who gets paid to help people make these kinds of decisions that I still struggle with making them myself occasionally!

Derek Sivers has a great formula for living life. He says if it's not a &@#$ yes, it's a no. If you are presented with an opportunity (or considering staying in a current one), a no is obviously a no. A maybe is also a no. Derek says that even a yes is a no. The only things he recommends you say yes to are ones that are a &@#$ yes!

Circling back to the above quote, doing anything that I'm not fully and 100% into feels like wasting the gift that is the life we have left. We have to do what matters today because we aren't guaranteed even one more day. There is no time like the present.

This is of course an oversimplification. There are lots of reasons to not simply cut loose an aspect of your portfolio career or your life in general, especially during a pandemic.

Health insurance. Shelter. Food on the table. Stability for yourself or your family. None of these are optional.

But even while checking these vital boxes, we all have more control over how we choose to spend our precious time than we sometimes realize. This is a point that I’ve seen made over and over again in the books that have had the biggest impact on me. It's also a point I've seen the people I look up to model repeatedly through their actions.

In my professional career I’ve quit four college teaching jobs and two professional brass quintets and every single time it was a good decision for me and for them. Anyone reading this is busy just like me. Any time we say yes to anything, we are by definition saying no to other things.

Saying yes to something you like but don’t love or to something that doesn’t have much impact on the world is saying no to doing more important work with the limited amount of time you have left on this earth.

It’s a cliche but this isn’t a dress rehearsal! We only get one crack at this. That’s why I am constantly trying to evaluate my priorities and always trying to have the courage to make difficult decisions. Those decisions will never end in my career and in life so all I can do is face them. Because putting off a difficult decision becomes a decision in and of itself.

Do what matters, now.