Die Empty
Unleash Your Best Work Every Day
Todd Henry
20130530
Embrace the importance of now and refuse to allow the lull of comfort, fear, familiarity, and ego to prevent you from taking action on your ambitions… The cost of inaction is vast. Don’t go to your grave with your best work inside of you. Choose To Die Empty. — Todd Henry
Introduction
We have only a certain amount of time available to us, and how we choose to spend our days is significant. There are things we would like to do and experiences we would like to have before we die, many of which are desires we’ve suppressed for months or even years. We feel the ticking of the clock, and the accompanying sense that we may be missing our opportunity to make a contribution to the world. However, we often ignore these impulses as a result of the relentless pragmatics of life and work.
How do you set in motion a course of action that will allow you to unleash your best, most valuable work while you still can? The marketplace is filled with platitudes about living a life of fulfillment, landing your dream job, and discovering your purpose, but when you are in the midst of the fray it can feel futile to think about anything other than hitting your deadlines and chasing the next promotion. It’s easy to get lost, and wake up many years later in a strange land asking yourself, “Who am I, how did I get here, and how do I go back?”
The only way to avoid this scenario is to instill consistent practices into your life that keep you on a true and steady course. An ounce of preventative discipline today is worth a pound of corrective action later. This book is about cultivating the mind-set and the methods you need to unleash your best work each day, and to increase the odds that, at the end of your life, you will not regret how you spend your days.
Contents
Section 1. The first three chapters discuss the nature of contribution, why work matters, and why so many brilliant, skilled people end up settling for less than they’re capable of.
01. Die Empty
02. Your Contribution
03. The Siren Song of Mediocrity
Section 2. Chapters 4 through 10 share specific principles that will help you cultivate the mind-set and methods to unleash your best work.
06. Step Out of Your Comfort Zone
07. Know Yourself
09. Find Your Voice
10. Stay Connected
Section 3. The final two chapters offer strategies for applying these principles in your daily life, and using them to uncover a deeper sense of cohesion and purpose.
11. Live EMPTY
12. Forward