One Week to Live
What would it be like to live as if you had one week to live? One thing is clear. You would become intolerant of nonsense.
You would be intolerant of mundacity if you had a one-week mindset. Pointless conversations, useless activities, and trivial tensions would feel unbearable.
How to Lead Like You Have One Week to Live
Define what matters to you. But don’t beat other people down with your preferences. Just figure out what matters and own it.
Write down three high-impact tasks for this week. What must you do? Post them where you’ll see them. (See: Big Rocks) Determine to do what matters. Choose specific actions that create positive trajectory.
Stand up for your genius. But don’t live like a self-centered jerk. Fight for your best contribution. Don’t squander your talent on people-pleasing.
What is your greatest contribution? How can you maximize it this week?
Choose what to drop. What you don’t do matters. Practice purposeful exclusion. The notion that you can do everything destroys you. Setting priorities is the act of eliminating trivialities. Create a not-to-do list.
Good manners protect relationships. Brevity isn’t an excuse to crush people. Practice firmness with kindness. Some people don’t speak up until they’re angry or fearful. Don’t use fear or anger as courage.
Pause before responding. Soften your tone when you feel frustrated. Acknowledge other people.
Final thoughts
Brevity creates clarity.
Don’t wait until you have one week to live to ….
- Choose joy.
- Cut trivialities.
- Say what needs to be said.
- Drop pointless grudges and forgive freely.
- Pursue and protect your best contribution.
- Set boundaries that protect your energy and express your values.
- Practice gratitude.
What shifts in your thinking if you imagine you have one week to live?
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Hi Dan and all
Compelling thoughts and such a great exercize! Suddenly recognizing there’s only one week to live is an emergency, and would have to be treated as such
But – when you have one week only, the hand-written note, the strangely long talk with your postal carrier a couple times per year, daydreams and naps would be jettisoned. The horizon is right in front
I’ll only live like I have one week to live if I have one week to live. Meanwhile, going to keep my #2 Trivialities, and focus on the other points which make us better whether we have 5 minutes or 75 years to live
On a side note, what would you change if you had 1 month until retirement? What are the things you truly need to finish or focus on before you walk out that door for the last time?
Micki – re your question on retirement:
I suggest more than a year ahead of time you consider the budget for what you need to accomplish in your final year and commence lobbying for that amount, providing the rationale to those decision makers.
In the last year you announce regularly and reemind colleagues that you will be leaving and you want to support those who are interested in stepping into leadership roles that would reinforce the accomplishments or vision which you have been working on.
One also should consider how to remove one’s personality from the success of programs that we are responsible for, and look for the infrastructure that personality has created, work to replace that.
Remember that those we leave behind are the ones who will deal with the culture that is to follow and their interpretation of resolution may not look familiar to us.
Finally, though it’s lovely fun to hear how appreciated and important we are, putting those followers on the pedestal, identifying their strengths and supporting their pursuits in every way possible,giving them an opportunity to lead as you gently mentor, that can work for supporting the vision and its evolution into the future.
Slightly longer timeframe, but a friend of mine found out suddenly that he had months to live. He’s getting some treatment, and just past his 12 month mark, but probably doesn’t have another 12 months. Walking his path with him has made me think a lot about this, what I spend my time doing, what I’m doing that makes a difference, or will be remembered when I’m gone. It’s a good exercise… can’t imagine the lists for 1 week left…