Chapter Content
Okay, so, um, I want to talk about something that completely, like, flipped my world upside down, right? It's all about awareness. I call it a "Time Wealth Hard Reset." Sounds intense, I know, but, trust me, it is. My whole perspective just...shifted when I really, truly faced the, you know, the mathematical reality of how much time I actually had left with the people I loved the most. It was a... a hard reset, a real wake-up call. Super emotionally challenging, no doubt, but absolutely necessary. It just sparked this whole new level of awareness and, more importantly, new priorities.
And I want you to, like, experience that same jolt. So, here's a simple exercise. Grab a pen and paper, or, you know, open a note on your phone or whatever works for you. First, write down the name of someone you really, really love, someone you just don't get to see enough of, you know? We all have that person, right?
Now, think about how often you actually see them in a year. Is it once? Twice? Maybe if you're lucky, a few times? Just estimate a number and write it down.
Next, jot down your age and then their age. Okay, now, this is the slightly morbid part, but stay with me. Take the older person's age – either yours or theirs, whichever is higher – and subtract it from eighty. Eighty is, you know, just a rough estimate for life expectancy, but it works. This result is the approximate number of years you potentially have left with that person.
And now, for the big reveal... do some simple math. Multiply the number of times you see that person per year by the number of years you've got remaining. Boom. With some, like, terrifyingly simple math, you've just figured out the number of times you're likely to see your loved one before... well, before the end.
Let me give you an example. There was a point where I saw my dad, oh gosh, maybe just once a year. And, um, he was sixty-five at the time. So, if you subtract sixty-five from eighty, you get fifteen. Fifteen years. Multiply that by the one visit a year, and I realized I might only see my dad fifteen more times.
Now, here's the thing. Not all these numbers are set in stone, right? You have some control here. What I mean is, one of the most impactful things I did in my life was to literally create more time. One action— moving—literally created time with our loved ones. The changes you make might not need to be as significant, like I said. Some people, you know, just need to see this math to finally prioritize those regular lunch dates with friends, or more walks with their siblings, or maybe those annual family reunions that always seem to get pushed to the side.
The point is simple: once you see the math, once you've confronted the reality of that number, it can really inspire you to create more time with the people you love the most. So, go ahead and repeat this exercise for as many loved ones as you want. It'll serve as your, like, your personal hard reset, that intervention that sparks a new level of awareness and sets your priorities straight. Just a little reminder that eighty is just a rough estimate, okay? If you or the other person is older than eighty or if you're just feeling optimistic, then, yeah, feel free to use one hundred as your reference point. But the core message will stay the same.