As someone who is always wanting to learn and grow, I have found podcasts as one of the great ways to fill this want. There are a select few that I listen to religiously, one of which is The School of Greatness hosted by Lewis Howes. I absolutely fast forward through all the commercials and will definitely quit listening half way through if it doesn’t keep me interested, but most of his guests are solid gold. In addition to his own great story, Mr. Howes interviews some pretty impactful people and he always delivers on great question asking. At the end of every interview he asks the same question to each guest.
“If, in many years from now, your life was coming to an end and all the work you ever created was erased, no books, blogs, paintings, song lyrics, nothing, and all you had left was paper and a pencil what would you tell future generations are the three great truths you have come to learn during your life?”
In the last few months, I have listened to over 30 people answer this question and at about my 20th episode I started to wonder what my 3 truths would be. As I pondered this question I decided it is really just the 3 biggest lessons you have learned in your life. I am sure that my answers today will be different or modified in some way in another 10 years as I grow and evolve. But it is simply brilliant to ask this question and hear how others answer it. Even more so to hear your own answer.
Here are my 3 truths…
1- Change is constant so don’t get too comfortable. Take time to show gratitude for every moment, even the difficult ones, in your life. They aren’t here to stay. Once comfort begins to set in, recognize it and then make a change. It is better to choose the move you make out of the comfort zone than to be forced out against your will. The better you get at being uncomfortable the easier being uncomfortable during change becomes. Go find it before it finds you.
2- Accept who you are. Play up your strengths and work on weaknesses. Don’t waste time worrying about or trying to become something you are not. That energy is wasted. You are the only individual to ever exist on this planet who will be uniquely you. Do you even realize how incredible this is? And you want to waste it trying to be something you are not? Don’t. By doing this you are shaming God’s creation. Besides it is exhausting. Blaze your own trail, it is so much more fun.
3- Find goodness. It’s always there, no matter the situation, you just have to look and it is worth the search. The goodness is what gives purpose to every situation, even the unfortunate ones. Knowing there is goodness will help you through. Don’t quit looking especially when it seems it isn’t there. It is when the goodness is hard to find that it becomes that much more meaningful. Sometimes you may have to look inside yourself to find it, but leave no stone unturned.
There it is. My most important life learning to date. I am always a work in progress and am truly human when it comes to life’s lessons as we all are. The lessons I have selected are also those that have been a struggle for me or that I am currently learning. These are the lessons near and dear to my heart in it’s current state, which is a lesson in itself.
Your turn. What are your 3 truths?
A Pinch of Opinion 