I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Randy Komisar, the former CEO at LucasArts Entertainment uses a powerful metaphor in his book The Monk and the Riddle that he calls "The Deferred Life Plan." The Deferred Life Plan is when you defer doing what you really want to do for what you feel like you have to do.
With the Deferred Life Plan you often succeed at something that doesn't matter! It's like climbing a ladder that's leaning against the wrong wall. You end up doing something you don't care about; something you don't value; something that fails to express your values and convictions.
Komisar talks about a defining moment in his life. He was on the fast track to partnership in his law firm when Apple offered him a job. He looked down the long corridor at this firm and realized it was a dead-end. "What I had to weigh was whether I should stay on a well-defined path to professional and financial success as a lawyer or venture into a creative life in business with no specific destination in mind." Komisar said, "When I considered the risk of staying at my law firm, I had to face the possibility of an unfulfilled life, of working endlessly on things that did not matter and that at times violated my core values."
Komisar opted for The Whole Life Plan. He said, "I chose to pursue what seemed most important to my life at the time."
Too many people are opting for The Deferred Life Plan. They just have deferred living out their good intentions and convictions to another day. It's best called living in the Someday Syndrome. I just don't think God intended for us to start enjoying life when we retire at sixty-five. By then it may be too late. That is why it is important to live life like as though you just have 30 days to live. We ought to love what we do so much that we never want to stop doing it.
I know too many people who live for the weekend. On one level there's nothing wrong with that. But TGIF ought to be counterbalanced by TGIM. If you really love what you do, you don't need to dread Monday morning. You can look forward to Monday morning and Friday afternoon.
So here's the big question: is your ladder leaning against the right wall?
The 30 Days To Live series may have ended. But the 30 Days To Live challenge continues...
