Si Muddell: 4 short videos to inspire you to make the most of life

As this year comes to a close and work slowly winds down, we start to reflect on the year past, and dream about the year to come, namely in our often to quickly broken 'new years resolutions'.

Maybe we have achieved our goals this year, maybe we haven't. Maybe life has been tough and thrown some curve balls at us and we are seeking some inspiration, and maybe we are just treading water - things are neither good or bad, they are so-so. Maybe we could still do better and achieve more.

Well, whatever you situation may-be, it is important to remember we only live life once. When rationalising problems we think are insolvable, rate them on a badness scale of 1-10, 10 being death. Then rate on the same badness scale of 1-10 what would happen if you try and do the things you so want to do and yet fail - you are probably looking a about 2-3 out of 10.

The point is life is short, make the most of it, life life without regret and enjoy it.

Below are four short videos that help me when I need inspiration. They aren't new clips - you may well have seen them before - but they are very powerful and forge the fundamentals of my reflecting and goal planning for the coming year.

#1 - Steve Jobs: How to live before you die

Steve jobs shares three life stories, all of which have powerful lessons. Jobs urges graduates to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life's setbacks, even in death itself.

For me the most powerful element comes at the end - here is the transcript of that.

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Wise words.

#2 - What if money was no object

I love this short 3 minute clip. It is just brilliantly and powerfully inspiring. Do what you love. There will always be an audience for what you love doing, and the more you do what you love, the better you get at it.

#3 - Jane McGonigal: The game that can give you 10 extra years of life

It's easy to get so wrapped in our own little worlds, to be thinking / worrying about the future that it taints the present, and then what happens? We get old or ill and then regret all the things that we should have done and didn't but suddenly have no more time? I really hope I am not that guy. I want to embrace the 'now' as much as possible and when I die, look back with a smile and have a heart free of regret.

I keep coming back to Jane McGonigal's TED Talk again and again, as it inspires me to live a life without regret. Jane discusses her research of the regrets of the dying and finds universal regrets that these people have. Dying may well be a morbid subject but it's a reality we need to accept. The fact that regrets of the dying and the revitalised dreams and ambitions of post-trauma patients are directly correlated demonstrates that we are often too wrapped up in our lives until it's too late. If we take the advice and learn from these people, we won't need a trauma to come to this realisation; if we are that lucky.

Here is a previous blog post I wrote 'Live life and don't regret' that looks at common regrets of the dying. Sounds morbid but there is so much we can learn to ensure we don't make the same simple mistakes that negatively affect us maximsing our precious lives.

#4 - Carl Sagan: You are here (Pale blue dot)

Astronomer Carl Sagan famously and powerfully utilised a photograph that was taken about 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles) away from Earth by the Voyager 1 space probe in 1990 to demonstrate Earths insignificance relative to the universe.

This short clip inspires me to appreciate how precious Earth is, and how 'big' problems like wars to enforce religious ideologies and increase national borders are hugely insignificant and pointless; relative to the universe. The beauty of Earth is how such an insignificant 'pale blue dot' can yield so much diversity. Now that's inspirational.

I hope these four clips have inspired you like they inspire me.
My key takeouts are:

Life is short so make the most of it
Look in the mirror each day and ask yourself "if this was my last day on earth, would I be happy doing what I am about to do now"? If the answer is no, then do something that results in a yes.
Do what you love and don't waste it living someone else's life
Relative to the universe we are but a petit, small, minuscule dot. Far from being insignificant, it means life is precious and special, and we should do what we can to protect and savour it. What is insignificant are the petty wars to build national borders and enforce religious ideologies. Despite the seemingly insignificant size of our planet, we should laugh, dance, learn and unite in our unique diversity.

Please share any other clips that you find inspirational and if the above inspired you then please share it with friends.

About the author
Si Muddell is a Digital Strategist who has worked extensively both agency and client side. Si is fascinated about marketing, psychology & what motivates people, and loves guitar, surfing and travelling.

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