Life is only 4,000 Weeks. What are you doing with 'em?
If you are ambitious, this viewpoint can depress you. And if you frame it correctly, life is good right now!
In 2021, British author Oliver Burkeman wrote a book called “4,000 Weeks. Time Management for Mortals.”
According to Burkeman, his title came from the premise that:
"the average human lifespan is absurdly, terrifyingly, insultingly short... Assuming you live to be eighty, you’ll have had about four thousand weeks."
He even created a poster on which you can track your own 4,000 weeks.
At the end of each week, you color in one of the dots to see where you are in the grand scheme of things.
This is discouraging
Several years ago, I bought a notebook-sized version of the 4,000-week chart and colored in my own weeks that I’d lived.
It was so discouraging.
It showed me that I was more than halfway done with life.
And I was still so far from where I wanted to be.
So, I quickly threw it away. It was too depressing.
My old view of 4,000 weeks.
Ambitious
A clear view of where I want to go.
Often discouraged because today looks nothing like the future I see.
Which makes me work even harder and not enjoy the present.
And then I read a book called The Gap and The Gain.
My new view of 4,000 weeks.
Ambitious
A clear view of where I want to go.
Happier because of how far I’ve come (based on my past).
Which makes it easier to enjoy each day (though I’m not perfect at this).
What are you doing with your 4,000 weeks?
Do you spend most days pushing for a better future?
Or are you enjoying the journey, thankful for how far you’ve come?
Be a force for good,
Lance
