Imagine your funeral. Stephen Covey, in the chapter, Begin with the End in Mind, of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, alerts you to realize the shortness of life. How else will you know how you want people to remember you? For you to engineer your life, you need to figure out your desired lifestyle.

There are many distractions in life. It's overwhelming. Everything feels essential, yet on your deathbed, what you should have done is clear. As you read this article, you could have several browser tabs open. Your social timeline may have many stories. You feel compelled to give each piece of information your time. Ask yourself one critical question when you're being unproductive: will what I am doing now matter on my deathbed?

We waste enormous amounts of time pleasing others. You choose to listen to the advice of people who do not have the necessary experience to give feedback. It's hurting your progress, as bad feedback and information lead you away from the life you want.

How to apply Covey's advice:

When you ask someone for a second opinion, you're stalling. Your heart already knows what you want most. If you ignore the feeling, you will go around in a circle and still need to choose. This is, until you live your purpose.

Regret sits heavy on your shoulders. Avoid it. Ask yourself, what will make me leave a good legacy behind. Then act accordingly.

This article is part of our Business Coaching blog series. At Dataczar we talk to a lot of small businesses. We’ve found a few books that we keep recommending time and again. To better help our customers, we’ve added a Reading List for Small Businesses to our website. We encourage every small business owner to read and keep these timeless business books on their office shelf.

 

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