Source: enablon.com
Last night a tragic car accident that happened only a few minutes after I was traveling at a place of the city with a friend was an intense experience for me. I saw a few young boys being carried out the car that was turned upside down, with their faces filled with blood. Soon after I got home, I understood from a local news website that a 30 year old driver that was involved in this accident died.Today I read probably one of the best articles that I have ever read written by Tim Ferriss, where he also mentioned that several of his close friends died in sudden accidents recently and these events have also made him question his recent life style and his endeavors.
Life is short. Do big things. – Robin Sharma
In that article, Tim also posted some thought provoking questions about the things that we do, which can relate with this approach of doing something that you are simply unique and unable to be replaced by somebody else:
ARE YOU DOING WHAT YOU’RE UNIQUELY CAPABLE OF, WHAT YOU FEEL PLACED HERE ON EARTH TO DO? CAN YOU BE REPLACED?
This is a profound question that probably should be written in gold somewhere where we can regularly see and serve as a reminder for us. We often forget about the shortness of life and get distracted in things that are not important, nor deserve to be even pondered about. Something that is easy to do, is also easy not to do. Trivial tasks that simply do not make any difference in the quality of our lives might be distractions that are covering us from the real things that we should be working on. We should invest most of our time doing only a few things that we truly believe we are capable of doing, which are related to our strengths.
Engaging in thousands of things simply because you can does not mean that you should. Setting aside only a few tasks in your schedule and being a world class performer on them should be our main approach in life. People who invented Google have not invented Amazon. They are two separate companies that were found by different people who were focused and believed in their vision of creating something big. Starting two or three companies at the same time will simply cause you to fail at all of them. Focusing on something and committing extensively towards it can result with a remarkable outcome that you are satisfied by. That being said, do not forget that saying “yes” to something immediately means that you are responding “no” to everything else that you might have been doing during those moments.
Set aside an hour today and write down the things that you are currently doing and ask yourself whether you can be replaced at them or not. It is possible that you might be like me that you are still not very good at something, because you are simply a beginner. Nonetheless, at least try to write a few things that really excite you and that you passionately work on them. After that, try to focus on them and drop everything else off your schedule that simply does not contribute valuably towards your goals and that is not in alignment with your values. Make a decision to commit working on them on a regular basis. If you are not sure whether you are doing something valuable, ask yourself: If today was the last day of your life, would you be doing this?
Life is short. Do big things. – Robin Sharma
