“Whatever you want to do, do it.  There are only so many tomorrows.” – Anonymous

I have this quote taped to the corner of my bedside table.

I see it when I wake up.  I see it when I go to sleep. 

I use it as a simple reminder.  Life is not infinite.  This is our one shot.  How do you want to spend it?  What do you want to be remembered for?

Maybe you don’t have these answers now and that’s OK.  But aren’t these answers worth searching for? 

In our fast-paced lives, it’s easy to let the days, months and years blur together. It’s easy to coast through our career and be comfortable.  It’s easy to ignore our true talents and settle for mediocrity. 

Most people never strive for more because they’re afraid.  They’re afraid of failure.  They’re afraid of what people will think when they come up short. 

It’s this type of thinking that sends us into a state of paralysis, a state I was in for most of my life.   

In High School I was the kid who refused to raise his hand out of fear of what my classmates would think.  In college, I spent two years without a major, afraid I’d choose the wrong direction.  And as I entered the working world I kept quiet in meetings and let my colleagues outshine me.

I was living below my potential for years. 

I used to think to myself “I have time.” 

I’m 17.  I just turned 21.  I’m only 24. 

But as I began to notice the years of my life slipping by I started to see the fragility of it.  If the first 25 years of my life went by in a flash, why would the next 25 feel any different? 

From this point forward I started to think more about my tomorrows.  How did I want to spend each day?  How did I want to spend the rest of my life? 

At first these questions seemed daunting, as I’m sure they do to you now.  But the answers that they held were too important for me to ignore.  

So, I decided to take a step back. I decided to start spending time each week on these questions.

• What does a perfect day look like for me?
• What do I value in life?
• What type of work gives me the most satisfaction?
• Who am I – at my core?
• How can I carve a life that satisfies me psychologically, socially and professionally?

Each weekend I would post up in a coffee shop and think through these questions.  With each trip I began to gain a better understanding of myself. I started to get a better sense of what I wanted my tomorrows to be.

You can ask yourself these questions.  The answers are within you.  But the key will be to carve time away from your everyday life.    

You need to put your phone on airplane mode for one hour on a Saturday.  You need to find time for you and your thoughts so you can make your own decisions and shape your path.

You need to find whatever it is you want to do, and do it.  Because if you don’t, then the days of your life will slip through your grasp.

Remember, “there are only so many tomorrows.”