Yes, I know today is August 23. Fall classes start in just 4 days, and I’m prepping for the first day. I plan on asking my students one question:
“Why are you here?”
Take a second and look at a picture of the Earth. You could be anywhere on it, yet you are where you are right now. Why there? Why not on a beach in Tahiti (assuming you’re not reading this from a beach on Tahiti)?
You get one life.
Today I am 12,372 days old. If I live to be 100 years old, I’m about a third of the way there. In fact, if we compressed my 100-year life to a single year, today is May 4 (hence the title of this post).
Don’t let that depress you. First off, life is long. For me, it won’t be May 5 for another 99 days (or the end of November 2018). Second, and far more importantly, the finite nature of life is what makes it so precious. We get one wild and crazy life to do the best we can with.
I return to the question I plan on asking my students: “Why are you here?”
There is one answer that has been true every moment of every person’s life: you are where you are right now because you believe that being there maximizes your Utility.
What?
Utility is an economics term that essentially captures the idea that faced with a set of choices, we pick the one that we believe gives us the most pleasure or satisfaction.
You could be on a beach in Tahiti right now.
Maybe you have the money for an airplane ticket in savings. Maybe you don’t have the money, but you have a credit card. Or maybe you could rob a bank. The reason you haven’t chosen to do any of these things is that you see a trade-off: the Dis-Utility (lack of pleasure, satisfaction) you’ll experience as a result of cleaning out your savings, maxing out your credit card, or harming others by stealing is greater than the utility you would derive from sitting on a beach in Tahiti right now.
Understanding this concept is key to living on purpose. We’re all choosing NOT to do an infinite number of things right now. Unfortunately we often make this choice with our eyes closed. We go with the flow, do the “expected” thing.
What I hope you get from this post is the following:
- Life is finite. Therefore, you should
- Spend your precious time living on purpose, by
- Considering your decisions in light of tradeoffs, and
- Choosing to act with intention
Have a great semester!
