How to Feel Passionately Alive Every Single Day

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
- Howard Truman

A first year student of medicine was walking to his first lecture. He saw an old man who looked at least 70 years old entering the same lecture theatre.

“Wow, what luck, we probably got the oldest lecturer on campus.” he thought.

When he entered and the lecture started, he was even more surprised to see the old man sitting in the audience with the rest of the students, also taking notes. At the end of the lecture, he caught up with the old man, and asked him:

“My man, excuse me but you look at least 70 years old, what are you doing in the audience?”

“I’m 78 actually. And ever since I was a small kid, I’ve dreamt of being a doctor. Last year, after my wife passed away, God bless her soul, I have finally decided to follow my dreams.”

“But… by the time you finish here, you will be… 83 years old!”

“Son, I’ll be 83 whether I follow my dreams or not.”

…

You don’t need to wait until you’re 78 to follow your dreams. In fact, you don’t even need to wait until tomorrow.

Living your dreams is just about making choices. About making the right (though often tough) decisions. And today, I’ll give you a few very simple (though surprisingly effective) pointers on how to do that.

The most useful question in the universe

I’ve lost count of how many books I’ve read about being happy and successful. They all have different bits of advice, like…

Eat more fruit. Get at least 30 minutes of exercise daily. Make a daily to-do list. Focus on what’s important. Life is about the people, not about the things. Look both ways before crossing the street…

And they all have some merit. But I’ve found that by far the most effective method to figure out what to do every day is… just asking yourself the following question about every action you’re about to take:

Will this make me feel more alive?

When I started applying this, I noticed a pattern. I spent most of my time doing things that made me feel LESS alive, not more. Like:

• browsing digg, reddit, or slashdot aimlessly
• spending hours watching youtube videos
• watching episode after episode of some TV series

It’s weird once you think about it, but most of our entertainment does exactly that. It’s designed to take you out of your head, suck you into a different world, and hold you there for as long as possible.

It makes you less energized. Less aware of your body and mind, and more like a mindless drone. Put simply, it makes you less alive.

Does that suck? Hell, yes!

So I slowly started replacing the mind-numbing life-depleting activies with more fun and interesting stuff.

And every time I’m faced with a tough decision, I remember that one question: Will this make me feel more alive? Because even if I approach an attractive girl and she shoots me down with a nasty remark, it’s worth it, because I will feel more alive than if I just sit in a corner. Even if I stand up to sign karaoke and everybody boos and starts throwing rotten tomatoes, I feel more alive than just standing by the sidelines. (By the way, neither of those things ever happened to me.)

This thinking helped me go out giving free hugs. It helps me meet new interesting people every week. It helps me find new fun and interesting activities to replace the old boring ones.

And you can do the same. Just ask the one simple question. Will an action make you feel more alive?

Your “makes-me-feel-alive” list

Here’s a quick method to help you spend more time on activities that make you feel alive. Grab a sheet of paper. If you don’t have one handy, go get it – I can wait.

Now just write down all the activities that make you feel the most alive. The most passionate and in the moment. For example, on my list, I have about a dozen items, including:

• playing the piano
• juggling with a friend
• rock-climbing
• public speaking

Go ahead, just make the list. Then spend some time thinking how you can do more of these activities.

For example, when I first wrote my list, I realized I hadn’t done rock-climbing in months, even though I absolutely love it. So I talked to a bunch of friends, found someone interested in coming along, found the nearest rock-climbing place, and off we went!

Use your “makes-me-feel-alive” list to figure out what you want to be doing. Then it’s about the next step…

Having time is all about saying no

The yogis use a great analogy in their breathing exercises. When you breathe normally, your lungs are like a bottle that slowly gets filled with dirty, stale water. And before you can put fresh, clean water in there, you need to thouroughly empty the old, stale water.

Similarly, if your schedule is anything like mine was some months back, it’s like a bottle of dirty stale water. And before you can fit in all the fun, exciting fresh water, you have to say no to the old stale water like TV, browsing mind-numbing humour websites, etc.

Sounds simple? It is. It’s not easy, but it IS simple.

All the step-by-step how-to of this is beyond the scope of this article. But if you’re really interested in how to say no to all the mind-numbing life-draining activities (also called procrastination), check out my free e-mail course 7 Days to Lasting Personal Growth.

And of course a great day starts with a great morning, so if you haven’t yet, read my article Kickstart Your Day – How to Wake up Excited and Full of Energy.

Have a great passion-filled day!

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Free hugs in Brussels

I’ll be doing a free hugs day in Brussels with some friends. So if you are in Brussels, and are up for giving out free hugs… give me a shout! We’ll probably be doing it a week or two from now (17th to 23rd August).