This Simple Tool Will Increase Your Courage, Motivation, and Focus (In Just 15 Seconds A Week)

Having the ability to make bold decisions and actions will put you on a completely different trajectory and transform every part of your life.

Making that leap. Talking to that person. Asking for that raise. Packing up and moving.

But it takes serious courage and clarity to achieve those goals and visions.

While there are countless tactics, I’m going to share one ridiculously powerful tool I’ve used for almost a decade  —  the origins of which go back several thousand years and embrace the most motivational concept of all.

The Most Powerful Motivator: “Memento Mori”

Memento mori is a Latin phrase, popular in the ancient philosophy of Stoicism, that translates to, “Remember you will die.”

It’s a beautiful, little phrase that puts life in perspective.

After all, few things are so powerful as the constant awareness that every hour brings you to the final one  —  it puts you in the present moment, forces you to question every action (and reaction), and makes you value the limited you have on this Earth.

“Don’t behave as if you are destined to live forever. What’s fated hangs over you. As long you live and while you can, become good now.”

— Marcus Aurelius

While some might think that remembering your mortality brings sadness and causes “nihilism,” in reality, it can actually give you a deeper appreciation and gratitude for all the joys, pleasures, and opportunities you do have. 

Consider this:

• How will you cherish the time you have with your friends and family when you know that life is going to pass eventually?
• How much more present will you be when doing your hobbies and passions when you’re aware that, someday, you won’t be able to?

Memento mori inspires me to make the most of my life while I still can. 

It makes me want to live.

Even entrepreneurs like Ryan Holiday, Tim Ferriss, and others have gained massive inspiration and wisdom from Stoicism and follow its principles, even while rapidly growing their businesses.

But to unlock all of its life-changing benefits, the trick is to keep Memento mori at the front of your mind all the time. 

Here’s how:

Your 15-Second Tool: The Memento Mori Chart

I learned this stunningly simple concept from a mentor of mine, Craig Weller, almost a decade ago and it only takes a few seconds to do each week.

It’s a tool that helps you visualize the length of your life and how far you’ve gone — as well as how much you have left to go.

Create a table with a height of 80 rows and a width of 52 columns.

• The 52 columns symbolize how many weeks there are in a year (give or take).
• The 80 rows symbolize a lifespan of 80 years.
• Every cell represents one week of your life.

At the upper left corner, write your birthday. Then, fill out the cells up to the past week. 

Then, every week that elapses, fill one cell.

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👉 Click HERE to download your FREE, printable Memento Mori chart and start getting more confidence, motivation, and focus immediately.

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Every week, after you fill a cell, ask yourself just one simple question:

“Did I like how I spent my previous week?”

If the answer is “yes,” great!

If the answer is “no,” that’s what this tool is for.

It keeps you in the right direction. 

It vividly reminds you that every moment of your life REALLY IS irreplaceable.

You only get so many week before you pass. And you can’t get them back.

If I didn’t spend my week well, I have to ask, “Why?” Did I do meaningless things? Did I live for someone else? How many eggshells did I walk on? Who or what was I “waiting” for? Did I get better as a person, friend, etc.? Did I learn something powerful?

Sometimes you have to admit mistakes  —  maybe the lifestyle you’re clinging onto is actually destructive. (There were moments I was wasting my life for months on useless projects, poor priorities, destructive relationships, etc.)

But while self-analysis can be difficult and (sometimes) painful, as Socrates wrote:

The unexamined life is not worth living.

On the other hand, maybe your life is right on track and you gaze ahead upon the blank, white spaces with a burning joy and passion.

These are the questions and answers that reveal so much.

And if you use this tool every week, here’s what it can do for you:

You Can Become More Courageous

Let each thing you would do, say or intend be like that of a dying person.

— Marcus Aurelius

When you look at that massive chunk of black that has already elapsed and see how fast life goes, it kills a lot of excuses.

It eliminates a lot of fears holding you back (or, at the very least, helps you stop caring so much about them) and it creates REAL urgency.

Because now you can SEE that every week passing by is another closer to the last one — and that you can’t hesitate any longer.

This creates tremendous courage.

I used to work a job I hated for almost 16 months: It was soul-crushing, making me depressed, and affecting the rest of my life.

Then I heard someone say, “One year of your life is no joke; don’t waste two.” And all I had to do was look at my Memento Mori Chart and see another row of weeks I could never get back.

I made the decision right then and there to submit my two-weeks notice. Maybe it was a little irresponsible of me to not have a backup plan, but I just couldn’t wait another moment.

Looking back on it now, that was the best decision I ever made.

I just needed the reminder.

You Will Boost Your Motivation

Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life’s books each day. The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time. 

— Seneca

How much longer are you going to wait to achieve what you want? 

To take that trip? To cross off that bucket list item? To do what you’ve always wanted to do… before it’s too late?

The number one regret in life is not living how you want and, instead, living the life other people expect. But it’s hard to see your own life because you’re in the middle of it every day.

That’s why the Memento Mori chart is so impactful:

It gives you an opportunity to step back, see your lifetime clearly, and motivate you to live how you want NOW rather than waiting until it’s too late.

Last year, I made the decision to sell most of my stuff, leave the US, and travel the world full-time. 

What finally motivated me to make that decision was to look at my chart and realize that those blank rows were going to pass no matter what I did. 

I might as well look back and have something meaningful to show for them.

What was I waiting for?

You Will Increase Your Focus

Let death and exile, and all other things which appear terrible be daily before your eyes, but chiefly death, and you will never entertain any abject thought, nor too eagerly covet anything.

— Epictetus

This tool forces you to get CLEAR on what you want.

What are the things that are meaningful to you? What are your top priorities?

On the other side, what are the things that you might be “wasting” your time on? What are the distractions, noise, negative mindsets, worries, stresses, or frustrations in your life that take time away from what you really want to do?

As you fill out the cells in your chart, you might realize that you can’t afford to spend another minute on them.

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So go and get started. Once you grab your template (link below), fill it up to the past week, keep it somewhere that can be easily seen, and watch how it changes your life.

I look at my chart every morning to consciously  —  and subconsciously  —  remind myself of what’s really important in life.

As the Jesuit priest, Anthony de Mello, once quoted:

We live in a flash of light; evening comes, and it is night forever.

Memento mori.

Click here to download your FREE, printable Memento Mori chart and start getting more confidence, motivation, and focus immediately.