Dare I be another blogger who is going to do an end of the year post? Should I join the ranks of those who will bait you to click on their articles by opening with something about how awful 2020 was and how we all deserve a big pat on the back for getting through it?
Maybe I should but if you know me, I hope you know, that’s not my style.
I’m publishing this on Christmas Day – a day that for me, as a Christian is one full of gratitude for the greatest gift ever given. Jesus is the reason, am I right? In honor of life given that would ultimately be traded for the lives of others, I think it’s valuable to keep this blog short to leave you with more questions than answers and time to think about them.
Over the course of the year, I hoped to give you a reason to pause and think about what you truly believe in and how you act in accordance. I’ve challenged you each week to take on a task that would help you reflect, learn, grow, and improve for yourself and those you love. I wrote every single article for myself, created each challenge to help me be a better person, and invited you to come along for the ride. I can honestly say, 2020 was an amazing year of growth for me. I hope it was for you too.
Well, this is the last Friday of 2020 and as we end the year, I want to challenge you with two final things:
The first is a shameless plug for the LIFE Enacted Guidebook that I will release next week. It is a five-part guide to set our intentions along with the LIFE principles for the next year. With 2020 being what it was, I knew it would be important to be intentional about 2021 and I want to invite you along with me. It’s was more than goal setting and will be a LIFE launching experience. Stay tuned on social for more and I challenge you to take on the hard work with me.
The second challenge got me this week and was spurred by a podcast from Tim Ferris with the great organizational thinker, Jim Collins. Collins is famous for his books Good to Great, Built to Last, and How the Mighty Fall, among others. He is a prolific thinker—about everything he says can change your life if you’re open. His genius is, in my opinion, not in his answers but in his questions. During the podcast, he shared a question he got from a coursera on philosophy and ethics that I think all of us would benefit from considering as 2020 comes to a close. Here it is:
Do you want to live a life to envy or a life to admire?
Many lives are worthy of envy. The rich and famous have lives to envy. We look at them when they are gone and think, “wow, that would be a cool life.” There’s nothing wrong with that but it takes something different to live a life to admire.
Lives to admire are scarce. On Ferris’ podcast, Collins gave the example of Abraham Lincoln. You wouldn’t envy his life. Hardships as a child including the death of his mother, ostracized everywhere he went, early love torn from him, death a regular occurrence, the burden of making decisions as President that would cost thousands of lives in a single day, and ultimately having his life taken from him just as he could have finally found rest. You don’t envy that experience, but wow, what a life to admire and learn from!
I don’t know about you, but, to me, there’s a certain amount of depth in the admirable life that the envious life simply misses. Although it might be the harder path that doesn’t result in the highest levels of material gain, I aspire to the admirable life. It’s not about legacy, it’s about making the short time I’m given on earth a contribution—a “thank you” note for the gift God gave on Christmas day a couple of thousand years ago.
What about you? Envious or admirable? You get a choice every day.
(Perhaps not ironically, Collins also noted the extreme power of small, thoughtful gestures to build a life of meaning and significance. Let that sit for a minute in regard to living an admirable life…)
Weekend Challenge
This weekend get ready to launch with the LIFE Enacted Guide. A great place to start is by simply asking yourself:
“Do I live a life to envy or a life to admire? Am I fulfilled with the answer?”
Have a Merry Christmas and a great weekend! I’m grateful for each and every one of you who is willing to invest in this amazing life we’re given by leaning into LIFE.
Best today. Better tomorrow.