[May 10, 2026] You have less time for the many things you want to do, much less time than you think. Be aware of that, and be grateful and awake. Maximize the time and minimize the wasteful, stupid, unnecessary behavior, because you do not know when your time is up or when those opportunities will vanish. Your time is short; get on with it.
Stop waiting for the perfect time, the perfect plan, or the perfect conditions; there is no perfect moment. There is only today. If you want something, go get it. Do the hard work. Make the sacrifices and take responsibility for your success, because if you don’t, no one else will.
Our time on this Earth is vastly limited, and we’ve got lots of things that are difficult to contend with. We have the problem of tolerating ourselves, even in all our insufficiencies. So stop wasting your time on useless, unproductive activities that also make you feel horrible. If your life isn’t everything it could be, ask yourself what you could do to stop wasting the opportunities that are in front of you. That is the beginning of realizing that we too often take our world for granted.
We have no sense of how fast time goes by. Don’t take your existence as a random, unimportant, tiny speck in the universe. Every second you get that isn’t in your hell, you should cherish it because you matter more than you think. Use your limited time to make yourself into someone who can stand against the tragedies and evils of our time. Be brave, be the one who stands up to be counted.
And so, if we adopt the proper mode of being, at least attempt to do so, the singular act of lifting up that weight is enough to justify the fact that we’re insufficient and mortal and bounded by tragedy. And people understand this idea deeply. We can see it because people look for others they admire. We look up to those who are able to bear the burden of being in a heroic manner. There is something inside us that calls to that, and that makes us want to mimic it and follow it.
There are things for us all to do, and there will always be so. You owe it to yourself and those around you: family, friends, neighbors, community. Get on with it.
NOTE: Much of these ideas today are from Dr. Jordan Peterson.
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Please read my books:
Gen. Satterfield, this newest series on “rules” are impressive, and as they delve deeper into the psyche of us ordinary humans. Humility was an early message (rule) that you gave us, and I’ve remembered it to this day. Please update your older book from 2022 with these newest rules, and I would suggest that you do that soon too. Thanks for helping us be “good” people, but only if we follow these rules; these proven, ancient, sage rules.
Nick, yep, you nailed it. I think this is why so many of us are regular readers. We have to just acknowledge that what we are reading actually can make a difference in our lives, but also — and importantly — in the lives of others around us.