Live Deliberately

Australian Olympic swimmer Grant Hackett credits his psychologist for giving him the following paraphrased advice: Do more things that make you feel like you.

What’s worth noting about this phrasing is that it’s specifically not, do what makes you happy (though doing what makes you feel like you may inevitably breed feelings of happiness). Rather than chasing a vague emotion, this distinct phrasing encourages the pursuit of concrete modes of operating proven to make us feel like ourselves. In the words of Jack Butcher, “life seems to be the process of getting better at being yourself."

The shortness, or perhaps more aptly, fastness of life requires deliberate living in response. Our task is to take the time to identify the incongruent actions in our lives—those out of alignment with who we aim to be—and recalibrate.

One of the first acts in what philosopher and playwright Seneca would describe as "ordering one’s life properly" is deciding what it means for, in his words, "the whole of it [to be] well invested." As we're unable to predict with precision the number of years we'll actually have, living well rests fully on investing oneself in the season they’re in. Doing this repeatedly is what makes a good life, committing wholly to the season at hand—and the next, and the next.

In this approach, we’re freed from feeling as if we need to experience everything it is we want right now. Living well requires only that we give ourselves fully to wherever it is we find ourselves, leaving little room for regret as a result.

Live now; live deliberately.

If you enjoyed this, feel free to forward it along to someone, and catch up on the latest long-form blogs here.