What do you wanna do with your life?
In a world long, long ago there was a hit music video on a channel that played music videos instead of stupid reality shows. An abusive father was yelling the question at his son. A normal kid from the 80s, much like me.
Now 40 years later the same question keeps popping up—what do I want to do with my life?
Quality Time Remaining
My wife asked me if I heard of QTR? Her sister mentioned it and for some reason, they thought I would know about it. Why they thought of me and my planning, long-term thinking, old-man personality…I can’t imagine.
Many of my peers are talking about the books Outlive and Die With Zero. All around me, there is a lot of talk about healthspan vs lifespan. There’s a lot of talk about investing for memory dividends and taking full advantage of the different phases of life.
These two books overlap in that being healthy, fit, and active are extremely valuable. They are the main currency of invoking quality time, specifically the ability to get the most of our quality time remaining.
As I get older I realize the deepest value of health. I see both my and Kathy’s mom are aging and how their quality of life is decreasing. Being observant is a wonderful power. It allows you to be aware of the world around you. In the best of cases, it should drive your decisions for the better. It can even motivate you to take action for the better.
I think about phases of life and abilities more and more each year. I’m lucky; I don’t have to think “When I retire, I can…” I currently have all the time in my week to do what I want. I have an amazing 168 hours to use. I do need to be better at assigning and using that time for things that are best suited for this phase of my healthspan.
I have been working toward positioning some activities into the younger-ish and older phases of our lives.
Examples for younger:
I have been working for action on things that are better/easier/more important now when we’re younger-ish. Travel to eastern Europe, Hockey, Triathlon, Helping time.
Examples for older:
I’ve considered moving the easier-ish/less important items to later phases like traveling to western Europe, cruises, Reading in the afternoons, Helping time, and even bashing on my guitar and Marshall stack.
To Do / Don’t Forget List
In my attempt to plan and organize my future “things,” I maintain my Don’t Forget List. It allows me to not stress about trying to remember what I want/need to do in the future.
I can group my items into Important, Less Important, Later, House, Family, Adventures, Shopping, Working, etc.
When thinking about QTR, is this something I’ve always done but am a little more deliberate? Is this something that I need to kick into high gear for our GoGo/MoJo phase of life? Is this just another part of life that I need to keep track of, and if so, what if I miss the opportunity/phases that something allows and it’s gone forever?
Either I’m a thinker, or I’m running out of time.
Do what’s true to you. Do what’s in your heart. Do it NOW. You never know what tomorrow may bring.
*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice. I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be. You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.