Good morning and welcome to the Increasing Impact Podcast. I'm Justin Suwa, episode 1,958. Today, I want to share two

excerpts for you. I read each one on different days and they align so beautifully. So the first one is a

quote from Steve Jobs comes from his iconic Stanford commencement speech.

It says this, quote, remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever

encountered to help me make the big choices in life.

Because almost everything, all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment,

or failure.

These things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

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

You're already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart, close quote. And that goes along with a poem by Linda Ellis. It's called The Dash. Here it is.

I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend. He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the

beginning to the end. He noted that the first came, that first came the date of birth and spoke a

following date with tears. But he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time that they spent alive on earth.

And now only those who love them know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not how much we own, the cars, the house, the cash.

What matters is how we live in love and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard. Are there things you'd like to change?

For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged.

Close quote.

We have a very short amount of time here on this earth.

We don't know when it's going to end. We don't know how long our loved ones are going to be here.

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