If you didn't have long left, what would you change?
Luke Fenwick is a Melbourne-based life coach, leadership coach and ultra-endurance athlete. He helps men and women master mindset, habits and discipline to build lives they’re proud of. Connect on LinkedIn.
Build an intentional life and achieve your potential — Life Coach Australia Insights
Facing your own mortality might be the key to finally living on your own terms. Here’s how to stop waiting and start building a life that reflects who you really are.
The other day my wife walked into the living-room and said that she had been speaking to one of her closest friends. That friend mentioned that a co-worker suddenly died over the weekend…early 50s, married, fit and on the outside appeared healthy but had a heart attack and died early in the morning leaving behind wife and 4 children.
This got me thinking and what I said to my wife was “I wonder how many people if they knew they were going to die would actually live life in a different way” and she looked at me and she said “well I’d certainly make changes” which I thought was really interesting and makes sense, right?
If you knew you didn’t have long to live, would you break those bad habits? Would you make a change to live a better life?
Would you?
Why do so many people wait for something monumental to happen before beginning to make change?
I see this all the time in my life coaching business. People put off making progress, when the opportunity sits right in front of them. Sometimes the opportunity might be as simple as joining the gym 50 metres from home, sometimes it’s treating loved ones with more kindness just by saying “I appreciate you”.
I suppose a lot of it is driven by the thinking that we do indeed have more time to right the ship or correct the course.
And for other people, they unfortunately just don't have the courage to live their life any differently to how they're living it today, because it takes guts to admit the flaws, it takes internal fortitude to attempt to break the cycle and forge a new direction.
An exercise about your legacy…
About the 3rd or 4th session I have with my life coaching clients, I shift the focus from day to day reflections about their life into a big picture thinking about their legacy. I have my clients reflect on the life they’ve created thus far and how satisfied they feel about it.
Below are most of the questions I share with them and I’d love for you to write them in your journal and reflect over the coming 3 days
If your life was to end tomorrow, what would your legacy be?
Are you satisfied with that?
What needs to change?
What are 3 things you want to do before the last day?
What will you value the most from life as you pass?
What would the most important people in your life say about you at your own funeral?
Do you wish they would say something different?
What would they say makes you incredible? Are you proud about this?
Who would they say you were? Not what role you played
Are you doing all you can to be happy and fulfilled as you die?
How are you holding back now from creating the legacy you want?
What can you do tomorrow to make a shift
Take your time when doing this, these are big questions.
Does making change feel overwhelming right now
Possibly after reading this article you do realise that change is required but the path forward feels too long and complex to navigate.
What about if I say to you, this doesn’t have to be just about big goals, that have a defined finish line…
It can be more about a way of living, in each and every moment.
Think of this as “power words of intention", these words remind you of what you want to accomplish every step of the way, here’s a few to get you thinking
Gratitude - Wake up and enjoy what you have, be thankful for the entire new day.
Present - Listening, engaging and showing empathy for those around you.
Self-respect - Treating your body and your mind with kindness.
Positive - View what you have with a glass-half full approach..no matter what
What are 3 words that you could adopt into life? 3 words that elicit an immediate response in you.
A conclusion before it’s too late?
We spend so much of our lives waiting. Waiting for the right time. Waiting for more money, more clarity, more confidence. Waiting for the kids to grow up, the job to settle, the fog to lift. But here’s the uncomfortable truth…life doesn’t wait for us to be ready.
If something were to happen tomorrow… would you be proud of the life you’ve led?
The legacy you leave behind isn’t just about big achievements or titles it’s about how you made people feel. How present you were. Whether you honoured your potential. Whether you lived by intention, or simply existed on autopilot.
Change doesn’t start with a five-year plan. It starts in the next decision. The next moment. The next breath.
You don’t need a crisis to wake up to what matters. You don’t need a tragedy to start treating your time like it’s precious, because it is. Every single day is a page in your story. The question is, are you proud of the one you’re writing?
So pause.
Reflect.
Choose.
And if you’re ready to make changes not just in theory, but in real, tangible ways, you don’t have to do it alone.
Book your free 30-minute exploratory call with me today and discover how the right habits can reshape your mindset and create a new life.
