[🐝U] my uncle died ...

Mamma Mia’s “baby bra-der” passed. This week, we said goodbye.

He lived into his mid-80s.
Had 2 daughters … 4 grandchildren.
& an endless list of extended family & friends.

Sounds like the perfect life, doesn’t it?
& in so many ways, it was.

Marry the love of your life.
Have a family.
Watch your children grow & have families of their own.
Live to a “ripe ‘ole age”

For the past 30ish years, Mamma Mia’s “baby bra-der” battled Parkinson’s.

Through that, he lived his life to the fullest.
He made the most of things.

But he planned for something different.
So did Mamma Mia’s oldest brother.

He was one of the first to leave post-WWII Italy in search of a better life.
He had no money. No education. No English.
He worked. Hard labour. Long hours.
& he changed the lives of so many other families by helping them immigrate too.

He planned on enjoying his retirement.
But he passed before receiving his first retirement check.

His daughter, my cousin, outlived her father by a handful of years.
But she spent her retirement years battling cancer.
She lost that fight less than a year ago.

This list is long in my family.

I’ve been to over 30 funerals since I took this photo of Mamma Mia & her “baby bra-der” in 2016.

Not everyone lived to see retirement.
& 1 didn’t even make it to puberty.

& through all this, I can’t help but think of my dad.

He was happy.
He loved his life … his wife … his family … his accordion!
He accomplished a lot … overcame sooo much adversity.

But he had regrets.
& I didn’t know it until it was too late to help him.

Look, this is in no way meant to slight anyone.
It’s easy enough to look on the outside in & judge others.

That’s not what this is.

This is my perception.
& in many ways, they all accomplished so much more than I ever will.

I’m proud of them.
I admire them.

They all lived a wonderful life.
It wasn’t about the public fame & financial fortune.
They were loved.
They still are.

& we’re all going to have regrets about things we shoulda/coulda/woulda in the past.
But we can do something about minimizing, even eliminating, regrets going forward.

This is a public reminder for myself as much as it is a lifeline for you …

There are no guarantees in life.

I don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring my way any more than you know what’s coming your way.

We can hope.
We can plan.

But more importantly, we need to DO.

There’s just one thing we need to add to that quote …

Are you doing all you can do?
For your business
In your life

Be honest with yourself.

Bottom line, if you’re thinking things like:
“The day gets away from me…”
“I lost track of time …”
“I was planning on it but …”

Then there IS something more you can do.

You’ve probably heard that Ben Franklin quote … Time is money.
Well, no disrespect to Benjamin Franklin, but that’s a big pile of 💩

Time is more precious than money.

Time is not something we’re guaranteed a lot of.
(yes, I’m repeating myself)

Time isn’t even appreciated … not really.
We make excuses.
We try to justify things.

All those excuses make up another a big pile of 💩

The excuses are easy.
The doing is hard.

If something’s gonna stink, it should be the sweat of working instead of a pile of excuse-filled 💩

After my dad passed, Mamma Mia was adamant about wanting a closed casket & no viewing.

She often said, “day wanna see me, do en when I live, no when I dead”

So many people made time to attend services, go to the funeral, offer their condolences … as you do when someone passes.

What about while we’re living?
How are we making time for things & people BEFORE the “bad news” hits us?

Are we genuinely spending quality time?
Or just in the same room & not actually present?

& what about our businesses?

We ALL have goals in our lives focused on freedom …
Financial freedom.
Flexibility of time.

Mine may look different than yours.
But both deserve to happen.

No one’s perfect.
We all waste time.
I’m guilty of it too.
It’s an easy trap to fall into.

Sometimes we need that punch in the gut to stop & regroup.
My uncle’s passing is a reminder for me.

Am I making the most of the time I have?
… in living my life?
… in supporting others to realize their dreams?

Because even if we do manage to live a long life, what kind of quality does it have?

Mamma Mia lived into her 90s.
She holds the “record” for longest-living person in her family.

By the time she passed, she was legally blind, hard of hearing, couldn’t eat solid food, & couldn’t stand or walk on her own.

That was after beating cancer twice, a stroke, lupus, osteoporosis, & a Nazi invasion.

My hope is that her sole surviving sibling smashes that record & doesn’t have to battle any more than she already has.

Where am I going with all this?
I’m repeating myself.
I know it.
It’s on purpose.

My mom lived with intention.
That’s what’s going to stick with me about her.

That’s not to say the others didn’t.
They did.
Of course they did.
You can’t accomplish anything in life without intention.

But I know there was still something he wished he tried.
That he didn’t.
That we didn’t talk about it sooner …
That’s what’s going to stick with me - a bit more - about him.

So, I want to talk to you about intention.

I realized on the drive to the cemetery that I can do more.
I can live with more intention.
Better focus.
Deeper work.

Cal Newport defines “deep work” as “distraction-free concentration that pushes your cognitive capabilities to their limit.”

What things are stealing your time?
We all have something.

Is it the hours doomscrolling on social media?
Do you have constant notifications from “instantly-distracting” messages & emails?

Maybe you’re sifting through the internet looking for help & being overwhelmed with too many opinions on the best/fastest/easiest/whatever-est thing that leaves you with analysis paralysis.

It can even be something as being in an “open-work” environment .. at your day job or at home.

As Mamma Mia used to say, “you gotta keepie goie” …

& I’d like to do that with this line of thought for the next few emails.
Because I want to live with more intention.
Better focus.
Deeper work.

If you’re OK with that - or not - let me know.

Either way, make it a great “intentionally productive” week!
EG

PS:

The Livelong Newsletter shares longevity breakthroughs that help you look good, feel better, and live longer

& these are 3 books in my library that smack you between the eyes when it comes to priorities & time management.

Indistractible by Nir Eyal (on his website)

Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks (also on his website)

Dan Kennedy’s No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs is the epitome of making time instead of having it stolen from you. (but he doesn’t have this on his website so Google is your friend)

The first time I read No B.S. Time Management, I thought, “there’s no way I can do that”
… now it’s about, “how can I do more?”

No excuses. No bias.
All fact & intention.

PPS:
📣 Tell me what you want to read about … here
🔗 Connect with me on LinkedIn … here

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Find a time that fits your schedule.