Yesterday I flicked through some of my old daily emails.
Emails about playing Monopoly with three dice. Hunting flies around the kitchen with my Dyson. And getting into hot water on the streets of Croatia.
I enjoyed researching, planning and writing these emails. So revisiting these ideas made me smile.
And the “research, plan, write” process isn’t unique to daily emails. It pops up everywhere.
Like applying for jobs.
When I applied for new roles, I’d talk to people, plan my application and then spend hours on the writing.
Just like writing these emails, but with one key difference:
The process of writing daily emails is fun. The process of writing job applications wasn’t.
In fact, it was a special form of torture. Because I knew if I was “successful” it would mean embedding myself deeper into the 9 to 5 machine.
But the applications weren’t just torture to write.
Even though the applications happened many years ago, they're still torture today.
I still get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when I think about them.
So I’m not just reliving the applications. I’m reliving all the feelings too. The memories still have the emotions
attached.
And thinking about my daily emails and my old job applications has made me realise this:
I want to maximise the
fun, joy and pride I feel about the things I do today.
Not just so I enjoy life as it happens.
But so I can enjoy the
memories too.
This idea has been explored from many angles.
For instance, Bill
Perkins writes about the concept of a “memory dividend” in his book Die With Zero.
He says that experiences today continue to pay a “memory dividend” in the future. Just like a financial dividend.
The more fun you have – and the earlier you have it – the greater this memory dividend will be. Just like interest compounds over years on a financial dividend, memories compound too.
The book gives the example of a skydive (not something you’d catch me doing in a month of Sundays).
Going on a skydive when you’re 18 pays a much larger memory dividend than going on a skydive when you’re
65. Or not going on a skydive at all.
You have decades to relive shuffling to the side of the plane and slipping over the edge into freefall.
And you have decades to share that memory with the people who were there, decades to recount that memory with other friends and decades to re-live the “rush” of hurtling weightless through the air.
So to maximise your memory dividend, spend time as soon as you can on experiences which make you smile.
A skydive is an extravagant example. Going for a walk in the woods with a friend is a simpler example.
It works in reverse too. Negative memories pay a negative dividend, as my job applications show. Just like taking out a loan and watching the debt ramp up as the interest increases.
So how can you avoid these negative memory dividends?
Remove the things you don’t enjoy. The things that annoy, frustrate or
depress you.
The big one for me was my job.
You might be stuck in a job which annoys, frustrates or depresses you too. Maybe you want to have more
fun in your job. Or maybe you’re thinking about a change of direction.
Whatever your situation: if you want to explore how I can support you with your goals, hit the link below
to set up a Discovery Call.
That’s it for today.
- Tom
p.s. Whenever you're ready, book a free Discovery Call here