‘Most people would rather be certain they’re miserable, than risk being happy.’
― Robert Anthony.

Think about a moment when you felt happy. Truly happy. A moment when you were fully focused on yourself, not on the environment around you or on what others were thinking. One of those rare moments in which you were just being yourself.

And now think about your daily life, about what you do when you wake up, and about all those hours that follow. How you look yourself in the mirror, how you go through your tasks, your to-dos, and how you end up that day.

Now compare both moments. Do they feel the same? It was a rhetorical question, I already know the answer.

You see, since we were put in this world, we were taught that life must be in a certain way. That we must go to school, learn a bunch of fundamentals, go to university, learn more stuff, find a job, earn money, find a wife, marry her, have children, enjoy life after 65, die.

Until you wake up one day and realize that happiness is not exactly the word that defines the way you feel. Or maybe you don’t even realize anything, you just keep going through the same routine, a never-ending cycle that always brings a paycheck at the end of the month and very few moments to remember.

Am I wrong? Then just picture a month in which you did not go on holiday or anywhere else. You just stayed in the place you currently live and kept doing the things you always do.

Now describe me that month. Tell me about every single day you went through. My guess is that you will probably not remember 80% of it. Maybe not even 95%.

Now think about your last holiday or something you did out of the ordinary (literally). It does not need to be recent: it can even be many months or even years ago.

That weekend in Rome, that week you took some time off work on some personal stuff, or that day you went karting with some friends.

And this is not just about fun or leisure – far from that – but about anything you did, that opposed what you normally do.

It may be that day you went to a seminar about e-commerce and you got a new perspective on how you could get your income – or how you get more income sources. Or that afternoon you spent playing the guitar and you lost track of time.

Now you remember. And you probably remember how you felt GOOD. How you felt that your life had some sort of significance. How your mind felt light, calm, mindful.

But then you go back to your routine and the good, old “me” jumps out to the surface. ‘I see where you are trying to go with this, but I need to pay my bills and life is not just about fun’.

True, it isn’t. But great that you’ve mentioned LIFE. Then what is life about? It is about doing the same thing over and over again, just because you have to?

Our problem or most people’s problem is that we are too immersed in our daily lives, and we rarely stop to see the big picture.

Because in the grand scheme of things, you only have one shot, and the way you exist in this world is the only thing that truly matters.

Not money, not your car, not your house, not your social security, but how you channel your time, attention, and energy.

Let me ask you this: If you had the chance to live your life again, would you live it the same way? Be honest. Not just honest, but brutally honest with yourself.

If the answer is a clear YES, then congratulations my friend, you are LIVING. If anything, that is life’s ultimate goal.

But if you have somehow hesitated, and there’s this hidden part of you screaming a big NO from the depths of your soul, then it is time to stop, and rethink your life.

I don’t like to use cliches, but imagine you were given the news that you just had one month left. Would you live it the same way?

Look, I am very practical, and I rarely dive deep into motivational topics, as they tend to be crap. At the end of the day, you still need to work and earn your money.

But in the grand scheme of things, sometimes we need to pause, reflect, and look at what the hell we are doing with our lives.

To start taking the necessary action today so that your life starts heading in the direction you want, not in the direction others tell you to. To start having every cell of your soul aligned with what your mind is telling you. To align your thoughts with your actions.

Because if you don’t, you are just getting off the driver’s seat and leaving your destiny to chance. Until you wake up one day and realize that someone drove your car to a roadblock, a dark place that will have destroyed the best time of your life and shattered all your dreams and aspirations.

So before that happens, act NOW or regret forever.

The clock is ticking.