39 Ways to Die Enormous By Robin Sharma #1 bestselling author of The Leader Who Had No Title

Hip hop icon Jay-Z once observed “I’d rather die enormous than live dormant.”

And I know you totally get that your days (and mine) are numbered. So this day’s the right day to start living FULL ON…

With this outcome in mind, I spent many hours reflecting on and then writing 39 of mybest ideas for living in a way that will cause you to make history…

May these 39 insights fuel your rise. And transform your game…‎

#1. ‎Dream up a vision so brave it makes all around you roll with laughter. Or reply with ridicule.

#2. Care a lot more about how many people you help than how much recognition you receive.

#3. Become the heavyweight champion of your craft. The undisputed titan of your field. And–quite simply–the best there ever was.

#4. Protect your pristine reputation. It’s an asset of priceless value. And each day, make your good name worth even more by doing acts of excellence, work that astonishes and gestures that inspire.

#5. When you fall, feel the pain. And then stand up. You were born for victory. And failure has no place in your world.

#6. Offer great words. Your language forges your beliefs. And your beliefs drive your behaviors. Speak like a lion, never a sheep. Talk like a leader, never a victim.

#7. Lean into your fears. Go out to your edges. Because the place where your greatest limits live is also the place where your greatest growth lies.

#8. Become a walking, talking excuse-free zone, understanding that your excuses are nothing more than the lies your shadows have sold you. As of this moment, do what needs to get done. And remember: just because something was hard to do yesterday doesn’t ‎mean it won’t be easy to do today.

#9. Silence your critics. Ignore your haters. Delete your cynics. The very act of playing at mastery and elevating the world is a massively disruptive act. Average people will become threatened by your brilliance. And so, try to stifle your genius.

#10. Mentor a child. Inspire a kid. Raise a neighborhood. To be great is to be of use. And an instrument of service.

#11. Most epic performers invested in 2.44 hours of daily training for ten straight years before the first signs of their greatness showed up (that’s ten years of anonymous). Most iconic companies took twenty years before they dominated their industries. World-class is a process. And legendary takes time.

#12. To double your success, triple what you spend on personal development and professional learning. Because the person who knows the most becomes the best. This idea alone not only built my life–it saved it.

#13. Forgive those who need to be forgiven. Each of us is doing the best we can, based on the information we know. No point in wasting too much time getting even. The Chinese proverb said it best: “before you go off to seek revenge, it is best to dig two graves.”

#14. Be radically generous. Give your customers 100X the value they expect (they’ll fall in love with you). Give your loved ones 100X more love than they demand (they’ll adore you). And do it without expectation of any return. Otherwise it’s not a real gift–it’s a trade.

#15. Be an original. Copycats never become ubiquitous. And clones don’t become game-changers.

#16. Spend time in solitude. Daily. As you rise into your heroism and construct a life that will make history, you’ll face the voices of dissent. Spending time alone will forge your conviction for your mission. And allow you to refuel. So you stay strong for your vision.

#17. Be not afraid of heartbreak. The root of the word “passion” means “to suffer”.‎ And all masters suffer. They suffer the pain of stumbling their way to greatness. And the hurt of standing for their artistry. And the wound of being misunderstood. Along with the sacrifice of practicing their craft to extreme degrees.

#18. When you witness injustice, speak up. And do something about it. If you don’t, you allow unfairness to rule our world.

#19. Get fit like an athlete. Not just to look good and become lean. But to live long. So you can inspire, elevate and serve for many many more years. Staying in the game longer than anyone around you is a gorgeous strategy for becoming iconic.

#20. Be real. Too many of us are so petrified to be ourselves that we invest our energy in becoming great pretenders. But few things are as powerful than a human being who’s comfortable in their own skin.‎ Authenticity is an element of mastery. Oscar Wilde said it perfectly: “Be yourself, everyone else is taken.”

#21. Say sorry when you need to. Say thank you like you mean it.

#22. Remember that gratitude is the antidote to misery. Neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine get dumped into your brain. You’ll feel happier, stronger more alive and on fire to rise to remarkable.

#23. Trust that the only opinion that matters is your opinion of yourself.

#24. And stop comparing yourself to others. It’s a great way to destroy confidence and diminish performance. There’s only one you on the planet today. You’ve been built to dazzle. And designed to inspire.

#25. Never lose your exceptional curiosity. Just watch a child: their eyes sparkle from the wonder they see. Lose that and you’ve lost it all.

#26. Do a living funeral now so you deeply understand what will be most important on your last day. Then reverse engineer it to start living in that way today.

#27. Develop a monomaniacal focus on contributing massive amounts of value, ingenuity and beauty to as many human beings as possible. The person who helps the most humans wins.

#28. Care about the smallest of details. Little refinements done consistently stack up into unforgettable user experience. And you and I are both in the business of wow.

#29. When you see someone doing a first-class job, do not hold back. Unleash your appreciation. Share your fascination. And tell them they’re awesome. You’ll change the world this way.

#30. Remember that dead people don’t care about monuments. Better to focus on producing masterpieces and being incredible while you’re alive than to spend much time on your legacy. [Yes, I know I've written so much on legacy in my books. Sorry. I've changed my mind.]

#31. Know that success belongs to those who learn, grow and study. And that education is inoculation against disruption.

#32. The moment you feel like quitting is the time you need to keep on going. Persistence fuels genius. And grit creates champions.

#33. Develop singularity of focus. Simplicity breeds mastery. And genius is more about what you have the discipline to say no to versus yes to.

#34. Adversity yields opportunity. And a problem only becomes a problem when seen as a problem.

#35. Your associations determine your success. You become your conversations. Spend time with people who show you what’s possible versus diminish your talent.

#36. Fill your life with art. Go to the Sistine Chapel. Spend time at MOMA. Visit the Tate Modern. Being around the works of greatness will awaken yours.

#37. Leave everyone you meet better than you found them. Become an encourager of potential versus a destroyer of confidence.

#38. Remain true to your boldest ideals. Possibilitarians–not cynics–change the world.

#39. And be loving. At the end, each of us will have wished we had cared deeper, served higher and laughed a little louder.