This is a rather simple phrase from one of the smarter, more accomplished men of our day. Leo did a lot in his day. Inventions, painting, and some science. He had a well-spent life. This seems like one of those phrases that are a little too big for most of us to figure out. How does one lead a well- spent life?
As usual, we make it a little more complicated than need be. What kind of life we are living is not something we stop and contemplate on a daily basis. What we can do is ask ourselves, at the end of each day,“Did I spend this day well?” Were we productive? Did we take actions towards our goals?
A well-spent day is about far more than productivity. We should ask ourselves, “Did I inspire and encourage anyone today?” How did we treat the people we came in contact with? Did we practice self-care? A productive day can look different to everyone.
If we put enough of these days together, it will have us feeling peaceful when the end of our life is drawing near. Ask yourself, did you spend your day well today?
Today is a momentous day! I turn the big 5-0. People have been asking me how it feels to turn 50. To be honest, it feels surreal. Certainly, it does not feel like I am reaching a milestone. To me, especially after my brief flirtation with death, life should be lived daily. To look back and think that I have been on this planet for half of a century does seem incredible. There are so many milestones that have yet to be reached. Marriage will arrive in 2027 to my beautiful Margie. Still looking to retire to a warm climate. Heck, I am still looking to retire. Have not made the best-seller list yet but book four will be arriving soon.
The quote above is my favorite quote of all time. Every year, I learn more what it means. Sure, I understand it intellectually, but learn more about it emotionally with every experience I have. Being the change you want to see in the world means different things to different people. To me, it means changing the world in the only way we are able, that is by changing ourselves. When my journey into self-improvement began it was with a wish that the world was a more positive place. As we sit here on the 29th of July in 2025, we have a long way to go to meet that end. Do you know what is positive? My world! As mentioned, I have what is to me the most beautiful and loving woman in the world. I have great friends and family who lend me support.
The way that my world has improved is by following one of my new favorite quotes, which is the one by Marcus Aurelius. Being a good man, or woman, means treating others with dignity and respect. It means living with honesty and integrity. When you live like this, others respect you and start treating you with kindness and compassion. Life really is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It has taken me 50 years to figure much of this out, but I am going to share as much of it as I can, to as many as I can, so all may learn what it has taken me a lifetime to learn.
As birthdays seem to add up, you can’t help but think of the legacy you are leaving behind. To me the best legacy is one of good character and example. Sharing the knowledge and experiences you have gone through. Learning from the pain and the growth it has forced you to endure. By sharing this with others it also gives purpose to your pain, making it a little easier to make it through. At 50 I have made through many loses and struggles. Still have many more to make it through. Each one, I ask myself, “How can I use this to serve others?” It has help me make through being one of the first people in my state to get Covid. (Did a series of YouTube videos to help others be less afraid) Margie reminded me to use it during my heart surgery to help others who may have to go through the same in the future. I wrote an entire book about the experience called The Beat Goes On.
How about you? On your next birthday whether it has a 0, a 5 or any other number after it, will you be any closer to the legacy you want to live? I will be releasing my fourth book this year. Today I also started the third season of my podcast, Living the Dream with Neil Panosian, on YouTube. Feel free to check that out. I also have another project that will be starting this year that I think you all will love. I continue to find ways to share knowledge with and inspire others. The sand in the hourglass continues to fall and time draws short. This only increases my sense of urgency. I hope it will do the same for you. I would love to hear what legacy you hope to leave behind.You can pick up any of my books, including the one mentioned in this post, at the link below.
If you have read any of my books or have followed this blog for any amount of time, you know that I often use fitness to describe certain aspects of personal development. That is because improving your physical body shares many of the same skill requirements as improving yourself as a person. It also serves up many of the same lessons. As we struggle on the journey we develop character. The same is true in the world of self-improvement. In both, nobody can do it for you. You can‘t pay someone to workout for you and expect the results. Just as you can’t buy that self-improvement book, or even attend that course, and expect any result if you are not willing to put in the work.
What do you get from all of this hard work? In a word – respect. Not only respect from others, but respect from yourself! Even long before you reach your fitness goals, you respect yourself and your efforts. The same is true with self-improvement. It is the act of improving ourselves that gives us self-respect. It is a lifelong journey. Everyday that we work on becoming the best versions of ourselves, whether that is physical or with our character, we earn respect for ourself. That is why we must endeavor to improve. Let us use this to keep us motivated when times are tough.
How little we give value to some of the most important things in our life. Our house, our car and our jewelry are notthe most valuable things we own. As someone who has the unique perspective of facing death, and briefly experiencing it, my view changed dramatically. It is something that is very difficult to convey in words. All I can do is share my story and hope you can gain something from it. When I knew that there was a possibility of death in my life with my heart surgery, you take stock of your life. You ask yourself the question, “What would life be like if I were not here?” It is much like the experience that George Bailey has in the movie It’s a Wonderful Life.
Have you ever asked yourself this question? Have you ever looked around at those closest to you and asked how their life would be affected if you were not around anymore? How would they feel? Would they know how you truly feel? You may not be facing a serious and dangerous surgery like I was, but you do not need to be. We can be the healthiest, most cautious person and our day could be right around the corner. Have you seen the way people drive these days? This is not to sound fatalistic, but to stress that time is not our ally. It is fleeting at best and we never know when it will run out. I heard someone say recently, “You are one phone call, one diagnosis away from a completely different life.” That is frighteningly true.
Enough of these sobering thoughts! Look at those around you and try to picture their life if you were gone tomorrow. What would they be like? When I began to picture this, I realized many things. First of all, memories are the greatest gifts that we give each other. There is a cliche that people may forget what you say or do, but they will never forget how you made them feel. This is so true. I shifted my focus on the feelings I was trying to share. Realizing the greatest moments of my life consisted of memories I shared with the people I love, my focus was on creating as many as possible. People leave our life for a variety of reasons all of the time. Seldom do we see it coming. We are all there one day and the next, one of us is not. It can be friends moving away, loved ones passing or a terrible misunderstanding.
One of the things I enjoy reminding people of is that although our time on this earth is finite, the impact we create does not have to be. Some of the people that inspire me the most have been dead. Some of them for many years. When I think of Margie, if I were to be gone, I would want her heart to fill with love every time a thought of me arose. When I think of my friends, I would want memories of our times together to make them smile. Wishing and wanting are great, but we need to take actions now to make that a reality. It is sharing these little things with each other that mean the most. If I had a bad day, a hug from Margie would mean a lot more than if she bought me a cup of coffee. Staying with me when I feel sick means more than any grand gesture she could make. It is the little things that create the big amount of love that will live on long after we are gone.
In a fast-paced world that is often very short on positivity, this is so important. We cannot tell who is suffering and who is not. It is not only a great idea, but I think being kind is our moral obligation to take care of each other. The only way that we can turn this world into a more loving and compassionate place is by being so ourselves. You cannot legislate compassion. You cannot decree it. You have to practice it.
My life mission is to leave the world a better place than I found it. To that end, I try to spread kindness wherever I go. The sad fact is that I am only one man, and can only physically be in one place at a time. I say ‘physically’ because with technology, I have the ability to spread words of encouragement and motivation to all the corners of the world. This website has been viewed in over 200 countries and on all 7 continents. While you might not be interested in growing a blog, podcast or YouTube channel, there are still great opportunities to spread kindness.
Many of you reading this have social media of one kind or another. Do you go there just to complain or post pictures of vacation? Why not mix in a message of encouragement and positivity? The world needs it now more than ever! How about positing positive things on other people’s pages? How many of us do that? A few posts ago we discussed how this habit can serve both us and them. A few simple world of appreciation or encouragement can go a long way. Think of how great it would be to inspire everyone who read what you wrote?
Another way to do so is to empower others to spread kindness. Helping others to get out of the world’s spell of seeing the worst in things and people is a precious gift! It is like planting seeds of kindness and compassion that will continue to grow and spread! These are the ways we can truly change the world. Will you join us?
Stop and think about this quote. Another way to put it, if you do not know where you are going, you will never get there. Purpose makes life so much easier. The crazy thing is that most of us are doing busy ‘doing things’ to spend some time to figure out our purpose. The irony is that without knowing our purpose, our actions are not as powerful. When we know where we are trying to go, we can tell if our actions are getting us closer or further away. Without knowing where we are going, we can constantly be second-guessing ourselves as to whether our actions are the correct ones.
One way that you can do this is by thinking about your eulogy. How can thinking about what people are saying at your death help you live your life? You can read more about this in my second book, Living the Dream. We will cover it here in brief. When you think of what you want to be remembered for, you know the type of life you have to live to do so. Think about what you want people to say about you. That you worked hard? Are you calling in every other day because you partied too much? That will not get the job done. How about a good husband/wife? Are you listening to, and putting your partner first? Or are your actions more self-centered?
Here is another crazy thing about all of this. How much time do you have to write your eulogy? When will it be given? The only correct answer to that is that we do not know. It could be next year, or even next week. My hope for you is that it will not be for a very long time, but the fact is we do not know. The time to get clarity and start to live the life you want to be remembered for is now! How about you? Do you have clarity? Do you know what your ‘why’ is? What you want said about you after you are gone? Spending some time answering these questions will be more valuable than digging in a vein of pure gold!
There are far too many people that fail to see the power in this quote. It is a fool who thinks that they can be excellent when it matters. When stressed, we do not revert to our goals, we revert to our habits. This does not have to be a bad thing. What it means is that it is very important to establish successful habits. Act in excellence in everything we do. If you are cleaning the house, do not clean around things, but pick them up and clean underneath them. What you do when nobody is watching will have a huge impact on what you do when everyone is watching.
In my discussions with my new podcast partner, we discussed what I believe can be a very powerful habit that will not only set you up for success in all of your relationships, but will even improve them as you practice. The habit is both simple and fun. It will make all of your relationships closer and the bonds stronger. While doing so, it will also give you a boost of good feelings. This is the simple and powerful habit. Once a week, sit down and write out a greeting card. Yes, the old fashioned things that people used to send. You do not have to spend a lot. You can even order a pack online in a design that pleases you. Once a week, sit down and write what you genuinely appreciate about one person in your life. Then send it to them. Imagine how they will feel when they are expecting bills or ads and here comes a heartfelt card from you! The fact that nobody sends cards out anymore is part of what makes it special.
Not into the whole greeting card thing? Maybe you do not know the addresses of many of your friends? Another opportunity exists on social media! Can you imagine a post that is nothing other than a genuine list of why you appreciate the friendship you share with someone? It will not only inspire and make the person it is addressed to feel good, but everyone who happens to read it as well! Often, online worlds have a shortage of positive material. Adding this one thing can change the day for many people.
Getting in this habit of appreciation will program your mind to look for the good in people. I cannot tell you how amazing that will be for your life. You will not only feel better about the world, so will everyone you share it with. Imagine doing this to 52 different people in a year! (Once a week, 52 weeks in a year) If you do not know 52 people, you can even repeat yourself. What kind of impact do you think this will have on your relationships? Think of how you can apply a habit like this in other areas of your life to help them grow. Soon, you will be developing excellence in all areas of your life.
You never know how much you are loved. Rarely do people convey how much you mean to them. Let us be the change makers in that. Tell people how much they mean to you and why. Then, watch them light up and your relationship with them grow closer. It is these actions that will allow us to change the world in a positive way!
Proof you can get inspiration from just about anywhere, I took this quote from professional wrestler John Cena. It would appear that Mr. Cena and I think alike when it comes to this aspect of human development.
Do you know people who seem to exist just to bring others down? With the advent of social media, these people seem ever more popular. I have experienced it more than once with my attempts to share this very blog. My mission has always been to leave the world a better place than I found it. To that end, my online material is free and available to anyone with a desire to better their life.
When doing my best to get the word out, I have heard that I’m out to steal money from people. I’m just another con artist looking to rob people. This is after declaring that everything I do is 100% free. It used to frustrate me as I’m doing my best to better the world, but now I understand there are people like John Cena described above.
Here is the secret – we can’t let their behavior influence ours. Why anyone would wish to live in a world of cynicism and negativity is beyond me. It really is its own punishment. Looking to tear others down has you constantly focused and looking for what is wrong in the world and others. Eventually, that is all you see.
Do you know what the cure for this darkness is? Quite simple really. Do the opposite. Be someone who lifts everyone up. Find the goodness is people and the world around you. Eventually, all you will see is that! Can you imagine what a great world that would be to live in?
Many people are confused when I tell them I listen to motivational content almost daily. Sometimes on my morning commute. Sometimes at the gym or on a walk. Why would someone who has spent the last 20+ years providing such content listen and learn about it? Firstly, because I am a lifelong learner. There is always something new around each corner. Only fools think they know everything.
Another reason is hinted at the quote above. So many of us check social media first thing in the morning. A lot of us listen to the news on the way to work. This can be poisoning our minds before the day even begins. Could you surround yourself with negativity and still have a positive life? I suppose you could, but it would be a lot less likely and a lot more difficult.
Putting good stuff into a body, brain and spirit will increase the likelihood that good stuff will come out! Want an even more compelling reason to surround yourself with positive things? It makes having a great life that much easier! Having a daily motivational calendar makes it far more likely you will come across something to inspire you than hoping your coworkers will quote Marcus Aurelius.
How do you get good stuff in? What actions do you take to surround yourself with positive influences? Subscribing to this blog is one way to introduce positivity into your life daily. What are some other actions you could take?
SECRET 2 AN AMAZING LIFE 