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  • What is a successful life?

  • To answer this question, we must observe the paradox of our priorities.

  • How we pursue lifestyles built on our resumes.

  • Yet, as we knowingly approach death, we yearn to be remembered by every quality except that resume.

  • You see, during the course of our lives, we seek success of every tangible sort.

  • But when it comes to looking back on a life once lived, those tangible things, the measuring cups of our entire existence seem emptier than ever.

  • I have never read, nor have I written, a eulogy that expressed how accomplished a person was or how brilliant of a worker they were.

  • Even the most celebrated innovators are not eulogized by the impact of their inventions,

  • but by their motives, the bonds they formed, acts of kindness, and what they meant to the people around them.

  • So, if you wonder what a successful life really feels like,

  • all you have to do is close your eyes and think about what you want your eulogy to sound like.

  • What words will be used by loved ones describing and celebrating your legacy when you die?

  • List those words.

  • Internalize this list, memorize it, stare at it everyday.

  • What you're staring at is your personal definition of success.

  • It sounds crazy, but everything else you're pursuing, everything else you whine and worry about is secondary.

  • And if you're going to do those secondary things, make sure they serve your list.

  • Make sure they increase your capacity to live by those qualities.

  • Stop chasing things that aren't on your list.

  • Because that list is all you have.

  • And that, my friends, is the only way to live a successful life with intent, not regret.

  • What's on your list?

What is a successful life?

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