The First Day in The Rest of Your Life

Aging tends to contradict the purpose of life, as does death. The longer we have lived the more we tend to forget the present, the future and focus solely on the past. The present sometimes become that placeholder for remebering our past or dreaming about our future, not living it.

The New Year always remind me about the limitless possibilities of life. It's the beginning of something new and wonderful, the opportunity to start all over again or just to rewrite your past resolutions.

I have written a personal mission statement every year for the past 15 years. I've named it after the city I've happened to be in at the time: Luxor, Barcelona, London, San Francisco et cetera. The purpose is to give my current plans life and longevity. 2006 is all about learning, experiencing and living. You might think that is what every year should be about and you are obviously right.

But in reality, some years are great and others are just transitional. Last year was one of those transitiional years when I decided to shift from my very corporate, scheduled lifestyle to some time of contemplation, leisure and discovery.

Change is good and creates purpose in life. Change creates turbulence which is the most powerful life force. It's scary, uncertain and frightening. But it's that kind of all-or-nothing feeling and situation that really forces you to grow, to stretch beyond your regular daily routine and to create magical new things.

We need to learn to measure success in life by more than money and corporate status. Money is obviously important for long-term survival and status the confirmation that the world appreciates our efforts. Both are easy to track and measure and what can be tracked and measured can be improved (direct quotation from my old VP). It's the same reason why team sports are so popular: the rules are clear and simple. A winner is a winner and a loser is... at best a loser.

In the end of the day, success is to go after what your want and achieve it cause you wanted it. It's to learn what and who you are, live your life the way you want it. It's like Bob Dylan said: A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.

I would make a slight change: Success is to spend each day doing what you love, not thinking about what could have been or will be, solely about what is and enjoying every second of that moment.