1. What do you want the story of your life to be?

It's your funeral. After a long life, the end has come. What do you want the people who love you to be saying about you? About what you accomplished? About the difference you made in their lives?

Got a few thoughts? Congratulations, you now have long-term goals. Work backwards and make those things happen.

Via Richard Wiseman's excellent book 59 Seconds: Change Your Life in Under a Minute:

Asking people to spend just a minute imagining a close friend standing up at their funeral and reflecting on their personal and professional legacy helps them to identify their long-term goals and assess the degree to which they are progressing toward making those goals a reality. [59 Seconds: Change Your Life in Under a Minute]

Hey — stop reading. Do the exercise. Stop whining. It takes one minute. The rest of the post will be here when you get back, I promise.