Video transcript:
Memento mori means “remember you will die.” Remembering your own mortality serves as a powerful incentive to live out the best version of your life and cherish each day since tomorrow is never promised. Filling out your Memento Mori calendar is an experience that will add a healthy sense of urgency to your core beliefs and your daily action steps that you’ve written out in your Mindset Manifesto. Start practicing memento mori every day and live an undeniable life.
How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself? ~Epictetus
It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live. ~Marcus Aurelius
It Is Not Death That A Man Should Fear
Much in the same way that our Mindset Manifesto is a guide to intentionality and goal-setting, our Mori calendars are intended to be a mindset shift tool. While the Manifesto focuses on daily actions, the Mori calendar looks at the big picture and the long-term plan.
Five-year plans can be very helpful, but an entire life calendar really puts things into perspective. Some may see the calendar as a highly effective time management tool - when you’re able to see how much time you have left to accomplish a goal, it can inspire new levels of productivity. Others may see the calendar as a reminder to find the good in every situation they encounter, even the difficult and “bad” situations, both past and present.
However, we also recognize that it could be a very sobering and somber experience to see exactly how much time we could expect to have left before death - and in some ways, that’s the point.
Beginning To Live
It is important to memento mori so that we can cherish every single day that we have. While the average human life expectancy is currently about 80 years, we don’t want to use that long lifespan as an excuse to put off our goals or take our time for granted. After all, life expectancy does not account for unpredictable factors like terminal illnesses, natural disasters, or sudden tragedies.
We don’t list these undesirable realities as a scare tactic though - we want you to use them as motivation to live every day as if it were your last. Choose to begin living now, whether you’re 25 years old or 37 or 56. We can all agree that there’s nothing to be gained by putting off the great joys of life, like spending time with your loved ones or experiencing new things or bettering yourself.
Use your Memento Mori calendar as an opportunity to celebrate every day, month, and year that you get to keep doing life by doing what you love.
