An uncalculated life seems fascinating because we like to delve into possibilities.
But when we put down some basic numbers, the real picture becomes clearer and we begin to realize that we probably aspire for too much.
Here are some random numbers about the things that I care for or wonder about:
- If I write one blog post every week then it will take me 18.46 years to write a thousand blog posts
- If I religiously read a book every month for the next fifty years then I’ll have read only 600 books
- If I ride 10 kilometers every day for a decade on my bicycle – then I can cover 36500 kilometers
- If I meet my best friend 5 times a year and live for 50 more years, then I’ll have met him only 250 times until I die
Now, it’s true that our growth in life doesn’t happen linearly – we get better and do more as we mature and work harder.
Yet, don’t we overestimate our plans and dreams and everything? Reminds me of the Tim Urban tweet that lays down the whole 90-year life of a person in an image.
Um, now these facts are definitely hard to swallow, but they’re like nice reminders telling us to stick to the right things that we value in our lives.
There’s not much time to waste.
Let’s make those dots count 👆