Legacy Countdown App
In The Daily Ritual post I described an app I use to help keep my priorities in mind. I spent the first few years of my children’s lives absent from our home believing that my entire calendar was required to build a successful business. Although the business became a wild success in part due to this commitment, those are precious days I wish I could have back.
Two years ago a friend showed me an app that helped him to keep a strong perspective around what was truly important to him. The app is called Legacy Countdown. In #LegacyCountdown you can set important dates. Then it simply tracks the seconds, minutes, hours, and weeks until those dates will occur. I spend time reviewing my app every morning. As simple as it sounds the impact it has had is profoundly powerful.
Legacy Countdown App
How I use it:
- Rather than putting in my children’s graduation dates as the app seeks by default, instead I’ve benchmarked to age 12. I chose age 12 because that seems to be around the time that many kids find a lot of things in life more exciting than their parents. As of today I can see that I have 116, 145, and 218 weeks until my three children turn age 12.
- I also have my 15th and 25th wedding anniversaries benchmarked – 678 and 4,330 days.
- Finally, I have our big family vacation for next summer calibrated – 266 days away and I can’t wait to celebrate with them.
What it’s personally caused in my life:
- I take more vacation now. I realize my time of being viewed as my children’s hero and most exciting ally may not last forever.
- I read to my children more often. I admit it isn’t as often as I’d like but it is far more than it used to be.
- I give work my “leftovers” more often than my family. (See the post Who Gets Your Leftovers — Family or Work?) When taking ADD meds, it’s often important to take a day or two off from the medication each week in order to keep it from losing its effectiveness. I used to take these days on the weekend. The problem is that I often get tired or unfocused on my days off. As a result of paying attention to the Legacy Countdown app I’ve switched and now take my breaks throughout the week. I’ve figured out that I can take a break during my travel days and not lose a whole lot of productive time as a result.
- I do more date nights with my wife and take her for granted less. (upcoming post on this topic as well)
- I work on my friendship with my wife more than ever now. I realize that someday the kids are going to be gone from our home and I will be celebrating that 25th wedding anniversary in 4,330 days. I would rather celebrate it with my best friend than someone I’ve drifted apart from over the years.
Getting Past the Scarcity Mindset
I used to think that spending time with my family hurt my opportunity to be impactful at work. The truth is that I was asking the wrong question.
I used to ask, “Which should I choose? More time with my family, or a more successful business?” I finally realized that it doesn’t have to be a choice. Instead, I should have been asking, “How can I have both more time with my family and a more successful business?”
Once I finally made the mental shift, both my family and my work productivity improved. I went from a #ScarcityMindset, thinking I had to choose between the two, to instead seeking solutions that allowed me to accomplish both.
It’s amazing what a couple of minutes a day of keeping life in perspective can do. I never realized how much impact a few minutes a day with a simple app could have. Part of being successful means doing uncommon things. The typical person plays more than 5 minutes a day of games on their cell phone. Imagine if they spent that time focusing on what was most important in their life instead?
Comment below:
- What tips or hacks do you have for keeping your big picture priorities right in front of you on a regular basis?
- Have you tried the Legacy Countdown app?
- What still needs to change for you?
Bio for The Anonymous Donor
Executive and owner of a successful international business, a father of 3 children under age 15 (one with special needs), married more than 10 years to my college sweetheart, a multi-millionaire, a former professor, an avid reader, completed my graduate training at Harvard Business School (#HBS), and approach life as a follower of Christ. Passionate about helping other #HighAchievers to build stronger families and careers.
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