Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Careers, Workplace and Religion
Three Questions You Must Answer Before You Die

Three Questions You Must Answer Before You Die

Last updated on: April 10, 2014 at 8:46 am by J.B. Wood

Three Questions You Must Answer Before You Die 2014-04-10T08:46:27-04:00 J.B. Wood

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Every now and then it’s good to take an enormous step back and evaluate where you are in life.

My friend Rob did this for me over breakfast the other day.

You’d like Rob. He is a smart, successful, energetic, forty-something investment banker. The whole package, you might say. Or, what I once assumed was the whole package, but now I know better. Anyway, I’ve gotten to know him through some business and professional dealings over the past few years, and we’ve forged a budding friendship.

Rob and I met up at an upscale diner near his home in a tony suburb of the city. I’ve often wondered what the appropriate use of the word “tony” should be when describing affluent settings. Friends, this was it.

The place was packed. This particular establishment somehow seemed to collect many of the area’s most prominent movers and shakers en route to the country clubs for their morning rounds of golf. How else to explain why on earth so many casually well-dressed middle-aged men were eating breakfast at a diner at 8 am on a Thursday morning instead of working?

Rob ordered a massive breakfast. “I eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper,” he announced, all fit and trim and enthusiastic as the waitress arrived with the third course of an egg white omelet. Then he told me about his super awesome exercise routine.

After a while we got talking about more serious matters: our jobs, priorities in life, how satisfied and fulfilled we were at this point in our careers. He’s thinking about a major job transition.

Rob said that whenever he considers significant life decisions, there are three reflective questions he thinks about as a checkpoint.

1. If you won the lottery (pick a number. A very big number), what would you do?

This question gets to the essence of what you really, really, really want to do with your life. The source of your dreams. This scenario blows up all the excuse-making and resource constraints and limitations and just says, “dude, what do you really want to do?” It’s a good litmus test to determine if you are moving towards that path in some form or fashion – even if it is only a gravelly, dusty side-track path for now – or if you are missing it altogether.

2. If you knew that you only had five years left to live—yet you would miraculously be in perfect health until the last breath—what would you do?

This gets at your priorities. In this scenario you don’t have the luxury of decades to build something, so you must concentrate on a more urgent time frame. You might as well get some level of fulfillment and joy from whatever it is that you are doing. It starts narrowing down the field.

3. If you had only 24 hours left to live, what would you regret not doing?

This is the most impactful question of all, getting to your core spiritual values. What didn’t you do with your life that you felt that you were meant to do? Maybe you should have mended a relationship. Maybe you’ve neglected your kids while pursuing your career. Or, maybe you spent too much time focusing on everyone else’s agenda, and never developed your own sense of self. You could have done more for others. Given more. Been more.

I spent yesterday afternoon talking these things over with my wife.

I don’t know. Some people think these schlocky self-help exercises only serve to keep generic motivational speakers employed. But it does get right to the heart of things, doesn’t it? And look, Rob is doing this, so it must be effective, right?

Image by Darlene. Used with permission. Sourced via Flickr. This was originally posted at The High Calling.

Previous Post

March 24, 2014

Visual and Creative Arts as Ministry: A Doorway to Transformation

Next Post

April 14, 2014 The Five Biggest Career Mistakes Christians Make

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category arts and entertainment audio/video bible / theology business church college community culture education faith family government/politics leadership media medicine podcast science & tech social sector tech Uncategorized work and calling

Select a Month November 2025 May 2025 October 2024 September 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 July 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 July 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 July 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 November 2016 September 2016 August 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the name of the lake into which the beast and false prophet are thrown?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The outer darkness The abyss The lake of burning sulfur (lake of fire) Gehenna