How will you spend your 33%?

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On average we will spend 1/3 of our entire lives working.

Yep, that’s around 33 years full of actual working hours?(give or take of course).

First of all, I’m not saying that’s bad.

Second of all, I’m not defining “work” as strictly paid labor. But for sake of brevity, let’s assume “work” is something like: time spent fulfilling a role.

Right, so we need to work, and for a plethora of reasons:

To provide for ourselves & others, to fulfill our basic needs, to fund our way of life, to be of use & service to the world, to experience a sense of purpose while we’re here…

(Not to mention we’d all lose our minds without something productive to do, it’s absolutely vital for putting pleasure in check,?and?it’s the very thing that essentially all value is built upon).

So, there’s no getting rid of work.

Why it’s important to put?time spent working?into perspective however is this:

If we’re going to spend 1/3 of our lives doing something, we should?at least aim to?enjoy, if not?at least?find some level of satisfaction (and maybe even fulfillment) in the time spent doing it.

Yeah, that may be easier said than done.

You more-than-likely won’t spend every second of it—heart ablaze, tears rolling down your cheeks in pride & joy, exploding in ecstasy, etc.

But you’re going to have to spend it?somehow…

Meaning, you could?either:

Spend the vast majority of it in a soul-sucking state of disdain, anxiety, malice, and resentment—leading of course to a very?high?probability of ending up depressed, with low-quality opportunities, low-quality relationships, and an inevitably endless serving of low-quality days…

Or...

You could spend (or try to spend) at least a healthy portion in a state of gratitude for what you have (and can afford), excitement for the challenge ahead, and pride for what you bring to the table.

Which will?undoubtedly?lead to… well, a hell of a lot better story than the one that starts with “soul-sucking”.

Wanna know the beauty of it all?

Even though it’s 33 years across a lifetime, it’s all still made up of the same seconds, minutes, and hours that make up one day.

So if you can find a way (what way?is up to you) to make just?one day at a time?a day you can be truly proud of…

Then, congrats—you’ve also found your way to living a damn good 33 years of life, of which you can also be truly proud of.

How might you go about making each day one that you can be truly proud of you ask?

If you ask me, it starts with painting the big picture of a life you'd have been proud to live, then breaking that down into small daily "doings" that align with that picture.

Some questions that might help...

• When I look back on my life at 85, what would make me say, "I'm so glad I did that" (Or, if you're really looking to light a fire, what would make you say, "I wish I would've done more ___")
• What does my ideal life look like? (Something reasonable of course, sipping margaritas on the beach for eternity isn't exactly realistic, or fulfilling)
• If X is what my ideal life looks like, what would an ideal day look like?

Once you've arrived at what you feel like is a complete, truthful, and exciting "big picture of what you'd like your life to look like, the game is simply painting days that align with it.

That means making genuine time and space every day to actually do the things that align with your big picture.

I’ll leave you with this…

How you spend a moment is how you’ll spend a day.

How you spend a day is how you’ll spend a week.

How you spend a week is how you’ll spend a month.

How you spend a month is how you’ll spend a year.

How you spend a year is how you’ll spend a life.

Wishing you all, sincerely, the best day ever (and a lifetime more to come),

-Emery

P.S.?A question for your pocket:?What could I do today to make it a?great?one? And if I had a week full of those? A month? A year?