You're Running Out of Time

I have 30 summers left.

Maybe less.

***Quick Note: Starting next week, I will send a weekly summary of the 52 Days of MicroCoaching posts vs. an email every day***

Jesse Itzler taught me something that broke my brain:
Count your time in big blocks.

Not days. Not years.
Summers. Christmases. Birthdays.

Do the math. I dare you.

If you're 45, you have maybe 30 summers left.
Your parents? Maybe 10 birthdays.
Your kids living at home? 5 Christmases.

Still want to "try" to make that change?

Here's what we tell ourselves:
"I'll try to start that business next year."
"I'll try to get healthy this summer."
"I'll try to visit mom more often."

Now let me translate:
"I'll waste 1 of my 30 remaining summers."
"I'll burn another year I can't get back."
"I'll skip 10% of mom's remaining birthdays."
Feel different?

Because "trying" is what you do when you think time is infinite.

Watch what happens when you get honest:

You don't "try" to pick up your kids. You have 350 Saturdays until they leave for college.
You don't "try" to call your parents. You have maybe 100 Sunday dinners left.
You don't "try" to take that trip. You have 25 healthy travel years. Max.

The math is brutal. But the math doesn't lie.

Every "I'll try" is stealing from a number that's already too small.

That business you'll start "someday"? Someday isn't on the calendar.
That weight you'll lose "eventually"? Eventually has an expiration date.
That dream you'll chase "when things calm down"? Things don't calm down.

You run out of summers.
Stop trying.
Start counting.
30 summers.
120 months.
3,600 days.

That's it. That's all you get.

Your turn:
What have you been "trying" to do that just became non-negotiable?

The clock's ticking,
Jeff

P.S. Do the math on something you love. I dare you. If it doesn't change how you spend tomorrow, you're not being honest about the numbers.