Now is the best time to think about the 80-year-old test

My friend and I were chatting about our passions the other day.

I told him, “I want everyone to pass the 80-year-old test”.

This is the test:

You wake up one day and you’re 80 — or some old age, doesn’t have to be exactly 80.

You ask yourself: “Would I live my life the way I did all over again?”

If your answer is “yes” (or, “heck yeah!”) — you passed! It was a life well-lived.

The most tragic answer would be, “No, I’d do a lot of things differently”. Sadly, there’s no time machine to help out with that…

…which is why the best time to think about the 80-year-old test is way before you’re 80 while you still have time to influence the outcome.

The best time to think about the test is now.

So whenever you’re contemplating important choices or whether or not to say something, evaluate it through the lens of how your future self will likely feel about it.

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by just how clear what you need to do and say become.

If you do those things, my hope is that you will wake up someday in the distant future, reflect on your journey, and be nothing but proud of it.