Episode #198 Choose What Matters (EC #2)

What truly matters in life is not something we find through great effort but something we choose through great intentionality. This week, co-authors Dr. Michael Brown and Dr. Beau Johnson introduce us to the second book of their Essential Conversations series.

Show Notes

I have a low-grade anxiety for 20 years that I’m not doing enough, a perpetual fear that I’m not gonna squeeze all the juice out of life, a worry that my life is just happening to me.
Dr. Beau Johnson

Three Problems

  • Professional or financial success often leaves us feeling less satisfied and less fulfilled than we had expected.
  • One of the most intimidating questions we can ask ourselves is, “What do I want?”
  • Our desires in life often have conflicting outcomes.

Seven Principles

  • We can only live a life of purpose by living life on purpose.
  • Difficulty in life is often a gift that clarifies and crystalizes what matters most.
  • The first step to achieving a great ending is often a sloppy beginning.
  • The only things that truly matter are the things that last forever.
  • We can make a bigger impact if we live for others than if we die for others.
  • Since most of our time is already accounted for, what remains is about 2 hours per day, 2 days per month, and 2 weeks per year.
  • Life has meaning when we are willing to be a means for someone else.

Five Practices

  • Establish and cultivate weekly, monthly, and yearly rhythms of choosing what matters.
  • Write a concise and memorable personal mission statement for your life that you can regularly revisit to guide daily decisions.
  • Create a funeral journal full of statements you hope (and choose) will be said of you at the end of your life by the people who matter most.
  • Consider the questions, “Who can I help?” and “How can I help?”
  • Purchase your copy of Choose What Matters today (available only on Amazon.com).