Lean Culture BuildingContinuous Improvement

The SUM of our lives.

CREDIT for GRAPHIC: Temujin Doran

“The average life spends two years of boredom, 6 months of watching commercials, 67 days of heartbreak, and 14 minutes of pure joy. We spend 2 months driving the street in front of our house; 7 months having sex. We sleep for 30 years without opening our eyes, 5 months sitting on a toilet.”

When a friend seeks career advice, I first ask, “How do you want to spend the minutes of your day? Then pull backwards from that.”

If, in your whole life, on average “you take all your intense pain at once, it’s 27 hours of it. You spend 6 days clipping your nails, 15 months looking for lost items, 18 months waiting in line or sitting in an airport terminal. You spend 200 days showering. You spend 2 weeks wondering what happens when you die; one minute realizing your falling from a tall building. 77 hours of confusion. 3 weeks realizing you’re wrong. 6 weeks waiting for a green light. 3 months doing laundry. 2 days tying shoelaces. 67 days of heartbreak. 5 weeks driving lost. 51 days deciding what to wear. 9 days pretending you know what is being talked about. 2 weeks counting money. 18 days staring into the refrigerator. 4 weeks sitting in thought wondering if there’s something better you can be doing with your time. 5 days working buttons and zippers.”

Watch this thought-provoking short film by Temujin Doran, based on the work of neuroscientist and writer David Eagleman. Then please tell me what you’re thinking in the COMMENTS.

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