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- You get 4000 weeks if you're lucky
You get 4000 weeks if you're lucky
There’s no time like the present to work on your legacy
Good morning Launch Key 🚀 community!
Nobody needs to be told there isn’t enough time. Assuming that we live to be 80, we get just over 4000 weeks.
I know I wasted a lot of time in my early 20’s. But after a grad school reset, I gained an interactive-media trajectory that carried me forward for decades. And while being in and around tech has been cool, none of it has been as rewarding as my 3 sons.
When you really look at the brief time we have here on earth, what do you want to be remembered for?
Comment below and let me know if we’re on the right track.
Table of Contents
Pull to Eject
What will you be remembered for?
Some people accomplish so much its staggering. As Elon Musk was rescuing astronauts, donating Starlinks and landing a rocket in reverse, even Naval questioned his own goals reposting this old tweet.
Plenty of us agree.
Before the Nobel Prize existed, Alfred Nobel was a 17th century Swedish inventor, entrepreneur, scientist and businessman who also wrote poetry and drama. He held 355 patents and invented dynamite.
But an accidental obituary – while he was still alive – changed the legacy he left for the next 130 years and counting.
“The merchant of death is dead” was the headline of the obit that was mistakenly published about Alfred Nobel in 1888. It was published after a journalist confused Nobel with his brother, who had died in an explosives accident.
Nobel was appalled by the obituary. And he went about changing the end of his career - as well as his final Will - to reflect the legacy he wanted to leave instead.
It’s not the work you do. Or the corner office. Or the big sale you closed. Or fancy cars or houses.
It’s what you’ll be remembered for.
My father gave me some great advice when my children were little. He said, your kids won’t see you landing the big deal or solving business problems, or hiring/firing employees. You need to find ways to demonstrate leadership to your kids outside of your work life.
And there are only few ways to do that.
You can volunteer, or coach or teach in their schools, churches, sports or extracurriculars. I spent almost 2 decades coaching, leading booster clubs and volunteering – probably to the detriment of my agency at the time. And I wouldn’t change a thing.
My boys thought I was a dork as a coach. But, they appreciated the time together as we shared the success and struggles of sports. And today running into a kid I coached or a parent who still expresses gratitude is exactly how I’d like to be remembered.
“Leave the woodpile higher than you found it”
We don’t all get to read our obituary before we go.
And we might need a reminder of just how short our time is. If you’re of a certain age, this 4000 weeks poster is slightly terrifying and extremely effective.
The following Tail End post gets a lot of attention around the Holidays but we should revisit it more often. My boys are grown now and building their own lives. Sadly, the majority of their days spent with me are mostly in the rear view.
It turns out that when you graduate from high school, you’ve already used up 93% of your in-person parent time. Factually, we’re in the long tail of how much time we’ll spend with the boys in the coming years.
Life is incredibly short.
Reach out to an old friend
Coach your kids
Take a risk
Learn a new skill
Accept the transfer
Write the book
Start the side hustle
Buy a business
Call your parents
There’s no time like the present to work on your legacy.
Now go launch something 🚀
When I’m old and dying, I plan to look back on my life and say ‘wow, that was an adventure,’ not ‘wow, I sure felt safe.
Modern Tools
The hardest part of any startup is doing everything yourself. You can only work when you’re awake.
Offloading tasks to part-time help is the solution. Belay has you covered.
Accomplish More. Juggle Less.
Your business is growing, and so are your responsibilities. So what do you do?
You do more.
You see a chance to expand your reach and increase your impact.
You do more.
You take on more hours, juggle more deadlines, and wear more hats. You miss a ball game here and there. Come home late a few more nights. You spend a holiday or two in your inbox. And you tell yourself,
This season just requires more.
But what if growing your business isn’t about doing more things — but instead doing the right things?
What if you could enjoy the holidays this year knowing that someone else is handling the “more”?
Your time is too valuable to waste. BELAY’s flexible staffing solutions can help.
Whether it’s administrative, accounting, or marketing support that you need, BELAY’s highly vetted professionals have the more you’re looking for.
Our exceptional Virtual Assistants, Accounting Professionals, and Marketing Assistants combine AI tools with extensive industry experience to ensure that you are always getting more without sacrificing quality or time.
Accomplish more and juggle less with BELAY.
Learn how with our free ebook, Delegate to Elevate, and leave the “more” to BELAY.
Old School Wisdom
Do you need a better system?
David Allen starting a consulting practice 40+ years ago and published his international best seller Getting Things Done in 2001.
Today it’s been published in 28 languages and he’s considered the leading authority in the fields of organizational and personal productivity.
Free Knowledge
Tim Ferriss is prolific but still shares lots of free stuff in his 5 Bullet Friday newsletter.
The author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers, including The 4-Hour Workweek and Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers.
Build client chemistry that lasts with HoneyBook
Chemistry is the key to all great client relationships. It’s how you turn one-time projects into lasting partnerships that bring in the cha-chings.
Turn sparks into signatures with a little help from HoneyBook!
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🧠 Seven Deadly Stupidities : 80% of Success is Avoiding Stupidity
💡 Product-Led Geek : The weekly newsletter unlocking the secrets of product-led success.
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🏆 IDiyas : Weekly patent newsletter highlighting the most prolific inventors, engineers, executives and entrepreneurs.
Visual Crapshoot
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