Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something... — Steve Jobs

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.

Author: Steve Jobs

Insight: We spend most of our lives acting like we're invincible, which sounds absurd until you notice how much of your worry actually stems from protecting what you think you have. Your reputation, your security, your perfect image—these feel like possessions you need to defend at all costs. The irony is that this defensive crouch often keeps you from doing anything actually worthwhile. You stay quiet when you should speak up. You choose the safe option instead of the one that matters. You treat your life like a game where the goal is to keep score rather than to play. When you genuinely sit with your own mortality—not morbidly, just honestly—something shifts. You realize that the stuff you're guarding so tightly can't actually go with you. That job title you're terrified to risk, the image you've built up, the approval you're constantly chasing—none of it changes the final outcome. This isn't depressing if you let it work properly. It's liberating. It becomes easier to have the difficult conversation, to pursue the unconventional path, to create something that might fail. The practical version of this isn't about living recklessly. It's about letting go of the paralysis that comes from believing you have infinitely many chances to get things right. You don't. That focus is the real luxury.

Source: Stanford Commencement Address, 2005