“The end is listless!” I actually said that the other day, so feel free to quote me. Of course, I was attempting to say the “list is endless,” which would have been a complaint, and then I would have had to move my purple “A Complaint Free World”1 wristband. Luckily, I was saved by my magic mind, and instead made an observation about life itself. Yes friends, the end is (in fact) listless. When it is all over, no further list is required, because you will be at the end of the list, and you will be spent. So we can look at this as a literal truth, as well as an emotional truth.1

We briefly addressed this topic a couple of times, once regarding TGIF and once about our lives being finite—bad news for some. That the end point for each of us is unknown is good news for most. So what about the end … the end of anything? Is the end the game plan … or is life all about the execution (the living of it)? Is it really not about the destination, and all about the journey? Some of us must have the right perspective sometimes or we wouldn’t create and harbour such beliefs.

In his book Thinking, Fast and Slow2, Kahneman in the Introduction states that Part 5 describes recent research that has introduced a distinction between the two selves, the experiencing self and the remembering self, which do not have the same interests. For example, we can expose people to two painful experiences. One of these experiences is strictly worse than the other, because it is longer. But the automatic formation of memories – a feature of System 1 – has its rules, which we can exploit so that the worse episode leaves a better memory. When people later choose which experience to repeat, they are, naturally, guided by their remembering self and expose themselves (their experiencing self) to unnecessary pain. The distinction between the two selves is applied to the measurement of well-being, where we find again that what makes the experiencing self happy is not quite the same as what satisfies the remembering self. How two selves, within a single body, can pursue happiness raises difficult questions. (pg 19)

Your memory tends to be made up of significant, memorable events—good and bad. The problem is that our minds are full of these peaks and valleys, the permanent memories, and that is what flashes into our mind when facing choices. Does terror flash through your mind or intense pleasure? Love and joy or fear and pain? While it’s great to have the hopper full of this stuff, it does get in the way of rational decision making. Gut instinct is not to be trusted. So what to do?

Well, this is the work part of your life. This is the part you need to get right, and this is the part that gets you the best life and best outcome you can possibly have. Drag up the full experience; look at the mean, the normal, the humdrum, the small valleys, the little steps. Look at the totality of the experience and give it much greater weight. Add up the totality of the experience and use that value. Become a rational-thinking person—consider, consider, consider.

It’s all about the moments of your life. What you do right now, at this very moment, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant, really does matter (like the butterfly effect3). It matters in a very big way, so be effective.

You are warriors. You know that what you do matters. You read the signs. You keep the records. You have the facts. You watch the market. You study the prospects and the subscribers. You draw valid conclusions from validated learning. You use tools and techniques to ensure your success.

True warriors do not fly by the seat of their pants, as they know that all that gets you is road rash! So it has been written.