In 2015, i wrote an article called Death Motivation.
At that time, death was mostly a philosophical idea to me.
i quoted Steve Jobs. i reflected on Memento Mori. i wondered whether remembering our mortality could help us make better decisions and live more meaningful lives.
Looking back today, i realized something.
The ideas were there.
The experiences were not.
More than a decade has passed since i wrote those words.
In those years, i have watched friends lose their parents. i’ve seen people younger than me leave this world far too early. i’ve watched celebrities disappear from tomorrow’s headlines forever. i even saw a former senior go from a cancer diagnosis to his funeral within six months.
Death didn’t change.
i did.
At the same time, something unexpected happened.
Artificial Intelligence (Ai) has helped me articulate my thoughts more clearly over the years.
Not because it thinks for me.
But because it helps me better express thoughts that have been quietly growing through my own experiences.
So this isn’t really Death Motivation 2.0.
It is simply Death Motivation…
written by an older Max Yeo who has had another eleven years to understand it.
Yet, this wasn’t a new idea.
Humanity has been reminding itself of the same truth for thousands of years.
Death Isn’t New
Be it the words “Valar Morghulis” from Game of Thrones (“All men must die”) or the ancient Latin phrase “Memento Mori” (“Remember that you must die”), both carry the same timeless reminder.
Different cultures.
Different languages.
Different civilizations.
Yet they all point towards the same universal truth.
Death is inevitable.
Steve Jobs perhaps expressed it best when he said…
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.
Almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–just falls away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.
Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it, and that is how it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It’s life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
– Steve Jobs
Remembering death strips away the unimportant.
What remains…
Deserves our attention.
Life’s Deadline
Imagine if humans never died.
Would we still chase our dreams today?
Or would…
“I’ll do it tomorrow.”
quietly become…
“I’ll do it in 500 years.”
Ironically, it is our mortality that gives today its value.
Without a deadline…
Intentions remain intentions.
Dreams remain dreams.
Unspoken words remain uncommunicated.
Death is not merely an ending.
It is life’s deadline.
And deadlines have a way of turning “one day” into “today,”
revealing our priorities.
And perhaps…
that deadline is what gives life its urgency, meaning, and value.
Live Like We Are Dying In…
Imagine we were told exactly how much time we had left.
One hour.
A day.
A week.
A month.
A year.
What would we choose to do?
Who would we call?
What would suddenly stop feeling important?
Make a list of the positive and ethical things we would do if we had one week, one month, six months, or one year left to live…
That list may become our bucket list.
More importantly…
the shorter the timeline, the clearer our priorities become.
If we only had one year left, how would we choose to live it?
Perhaps that is close to how we should already be living.
Not chasing temporary pleasures.
Not rushing to say last-minute goodbyes.
But making steady progress towards the things we know we would regret never doing.
What Would We Stop Doing?
What Would We Start Doing?
What Would We Finally Do?
Die Before We Die
There is another kind of death.
Not of the body.
But of the ego.
Our fear of failure.
Our fear of embarrassment.
Our fear of what others may think.
Most of these fears quietly disappear when viewed through the lens of mortality.
When we remember that one day none of us will be here…
many of today’s worries suddenly become very small.
Perhaps that is what “die before you die” truly means.
Let the ego die first.
So that the real us can finally begin living.
What Will We Leave Behind?
Eventually, every one of us leaves.
The question is: What’s left?
Money changes hands.
Possessions find new owners.
Even our homes eventually belong to someone else.
But wisdom…
Kindness…
Values…
Those can continue living through the people whose lives we touched.
If tomorrow were our last day…
What conversations would we wish we had?
What lessons would we hope our loved ones still remembered years later?
Perhaps the greatest inheritance isn’t wealth.
Perhaps it is a part of ourselves that continues speaking after we’re gone.
What Will We Be Holding in the End?
One day…
every one of us will take our final breath.
What do we imagine our last thoughts will be?
Gratitude?
Peace?
Regret?
Or perhaps…
“If only i had more time…”
At that moment…
What will we instinctively hold on to?
Throughout our lives, we spend decades reaching for something…
Success.
Money.
Recognition.
Purpose.
Love.
When everything else falls away…
What will remain?
Perhaps the final thing we reach for reveals what mattered most all along.
Whatever that answer is…
Perhaps it deserves a little more of our attention today.
Living to the End
Stephen Covey wrote about Beginning with the End in Mind.
Not simply planning a career.
But thinking about how we hope to be remembered.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “Some people die at 25 and aren’t buried until 75.”
Before Tomorrow Becomes Never…
Life isn’t measured only by years.
It is measured by how fully we choose to live them.
Live each day knowing it could be our last.
Not because we expect it to be.
But because one day…
it will be.
Life Goes On…
Eleven years ago, i wrote what i believed.
Today, i simply understand it a little better.
Perhaps eleven years from now…
i will understand it differently again.
Then perhaps one day, we will revisit this article again.
Not because death has changed…
But because we have.
P.S. In the end…
we can only hold on to what we’ve spent our whole lives reaching for.
Will it be someone’s hand…
or our possessions?
Choose wisely.