Are You Rotten? How To Audit Your Return On Time To Live The Life You Deserve
Imagine waking up knowing it's the last day of your life.
You take one of your last deep breaths and begin to reminisce. You start remembering your childhood, your first date, your first crappy job, your child's birth, your wedding day (maybe night), and everything in between life's precious moments.
You then wonder, "where has my life gone?"
You think, "I've done nothing." "I have some success but at the expense of so much." You realized all you did was live to wake up, to eat, to work, to drink, and to sleep. You became a lion locked in life's cage.
You've become ROTTEN.
I've been there.
I wanted to succeed in business so badly that every waking hour of my day was consumed by grinding. Or the more cliche term, "hustling." But over time, I noticed I had lit the torch and set my wick on fire, which ruthlessly burned from both ends.
I built a prison, not a business (or career).
Sure, this was an essential lesson in my life and a pivotal milestone in developing and growing as a unique human — but it's painful to look back and see the areas I had neglected.
Whether this is your last day or not, this one question has transformed my life, and I know it can for you too.
But before we get to that question, you must remember:
The only moment that matters is right now.
It's the most crucial time of your life.
Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow is never guaranteed, so the best time to be alive is at this very moment. Don't let yourself ROT. You have to seize the day and invest in what matters the most.
If everything is important, then nothing is, so you might as well focus on what matters the most.
Often, this comes with making hard choices.
You have to say NO to most things to say HELL YES to everything else.
There's no such thing as balance, especially work-life balance. There's only integration and the attention and intention you give to certain areas of your life at certain times.
For example, my Dad was recently diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, and his health deteriorated quickly. Yet, within that year, I had my third child, a baby girl, while being the CEO of a growing, thriving international aerospace company.
Something had to give, and because of my life values — family always comes first, right behind my health.
I had to make difficult choices and invest in my Return On time.
I began to invest in replacing myself as the CEO and started to morph into an owner-investor which will take many years to realize.
I had to ask myself:
Am I rotting away today?
It took me thirty years to figure this out.
I'd wake up a formidable foe when I began my career journey. Ready for the next battle. Ready to put out the next fire. Ready to tackle the next task. I focused relentlessly on the whirlwind of the day.
But this alone isn't a great place to live.
I'd wake up and not know my purpose. Sure, I had a plan for my business, but nothing for uniquely me. I didn't have a clear vision for my health, family, or spiritual growth. My sole focus was to build a big business, which then became the prison I built for myself.
I've read productivity books, taken courses, and hired a business coach, yet my "why" was still unfulfilled.
I love business, building teams, products, and value for clients, but I often found myself struggling, struggling for a purpose, struggling to make each day a day that I wanted to live. A day that contributes well to my unique life. I increasingly felt rotten. Gross. As if my life had no meaning beyond business.
Everything changed when my first son was born.
A rotten life does not blend work, purpose, family, health, spirituality, and other vital domains.
A rotten life is one where:
You don't have the discipline for the things that matter most.
You let your emotions control your decisions and reactions.
You let external situations impact your internal peace.
You're controlled by what you have or don't have.
You let your health suffer due to poor choices.
You live to eat instead of eating to live.
You don't have compassion for others.
You don't know what's important.
You don't prioritize your family.
You neglect the present.
You're mean to others.
You indulge in excess.
You don't sleep good.
You have no purpose.
You live in the future.
You live in the past.
You're not mindful.
So, every day, understand your ROT score.
What's my Return On Time?
ROT stands for Return On Time.
Time is the ultimate investment. Yet, so much of what we do has a shitty return. Your return on time is the positive value you create not only in your life but the lives of others.
When you know if you're being rotten, you can fix it.
But ignorance will blind you to the truth.
The key is attention and intention.
The more attention we give something, the more energy flows to it. The more intention we put into something, the more focus we give it.
It means we recognize all the crucial pieces of our lives and are intentional about how we want to show up in the world.
Are you 10%, 50%, or 90% rotten? If you can't answer the questions (yet!), that's okay, but now you know that to live an extraordinary, fulfilling, and happy life, you need to be less rotten.
As you look at your calendar for the day, ask yourself, am I going to be rotten today?
Schedule meaning and top priorities in your life. As the day comes to a close, ask yourself the same question.
Was I ROTten today?
This question will guide you every day for the rest of your life.
For example:
Is this project going to make me rotten? Is it going to contribute to the company's goals? Is it going to help my career?
Eating this cupcake, will this make me feel rotten? Look rotten?
This relationship, is it rotten?
Will my emotional reaction make me rotten?
You can use this question in every situation.
If it doesn't make you rotten, it likely aligns with our life's purpose, values, and goals.
Make sure your Return On Time is worth every second — you're investing in it with your life.
6 life domains that require your investment of time.
This might seem hard at first.
You might be thinking of all sorts of excuses as you read this. That's okay. A button has been pushed. An emotion was triggered. Now use those as fuel to propel you in a positive direction.
You deserve to live the life you want, that's unique to you and nobody else.
But, you'll have to embrace suffering. Buddhists call it impermanence. Nothing ever stays the same. Happiness will be joined with suffering. With every light, there's darkness. With every up, there's a down.
Embrace it, but you have a choice and response-ability for your life and everything in it.
So, every day, focus on making these areas less rotten and watch your life flourish through the good times and the bad.
1/ Values
Would you accept receiving one million dollars if it meant you'd never see your family again? How about ten million?
Or what about an opportunity to make a lot of money, doing very little work, but the company is involved in human trafficking?
These are extreme examples, but your life is fleeting if you don't know what's important to you.
So is your career.
Without values, you become a pawn, easily manipulated and persuaded by someones else's agenda.
Not all values are created equal.
Humans are hierarchal creatures, so values get distorted when there's no hierarchy.
When you lump your values into a list of what's most important to you, Luke Burgis points out that "the one that wins—especially at a time of crisis—is the one that is most mimetic."
You can't just name them; you must rank them of importance.
"When all values are the same, nothing is being valued at all. It's like highlighting every single word in a book."
Create a value system with a clear hierarchy.
If you know what's important to you, then this is easy.
You'll move your values around in a hierarchal list from the most important to the least important.
For me, these are my top three out of eleven of my life values:
Health Optimization: "Without me, I'm nothing, so to give my best to the people that mean the most to me means I must first take care of my mind, body, and soul."
Family is Everything: "I am a devoted husband, father, son, and brother, and my #1 priority is always supporting and being present with my family."
Return On Time: "Am I rotting away today? I live a life where I focus intently on my Return On Time, striving to always live in the present moment while I maximize every second on the things that fuel my passions, motivate me, make me stronger, happy, and prolong my life."
If you don't have a list of values, that's okay; spend thirty minutes making a list of your top five values. Then, rank them of importance.
Filter every decision you make through your value system, starting from the top.
2/ Mental
A stagnant mind is such a waste of human potential.
As humans, we're drawn to never being content and consuming (both rotten behaviors), but you can use this to fuel your personal growth.
Your mind is powerful if you can yield the energy in the right areas.
Here are some ways I do it:
I invest in mentors
I control my emotions
I pursue difficult things
I constantly ideate and test ideas
Every day, I'm a disciple of discipline
Every morning is dedicated to creativity
I read and take literature notes daily
I own and run companies that challenge, inspire, and motivate me mentally
Learn to embrace your inner child and constantly learn new things — you're never too old or experienced enough.
3/ Physical
If you're sitting at your desk all day, then destressing on the couch as you pound down Doritos (yum!) at night, you're rotting from the inside out.
You are what you eat.
At one point in my life, I was 250 pounds, my knees hurt, I felt slow, and my mind wasn't nearly as sharp as it is now. I never felt great. I wasn't living up to my fullest potential. That sucks!
The shit you put into your body will transform into the shit that comes out of your body.
If you eat like crap, you feel like crap.
You also need to move.
I exercise every morning, walk 10,000+ steps per day, get off my ass every hour, get regular blood results to optimize my nutrition, take all my meetings while walking outside, play with children all day long, and so on much more. It's mandatory I do this every day.
Why?
Your body wasn't designed to sit all day. It was built to move. Moving feels good.
Remember, you are what you eat, and you're a product of how active you are.
And without good sleep, none of this matters.
I believe the world could change with better sleep. It would make everyone smarter, kind, and more compassionate. I'm different when I get the sleep my mind and body deserve.
If you want the quickest fix to being less rotten, invest in getting better sleep.
Sleep is foundational to your overall health.
4/ Spirit
This isn't about religion — unless that's your thing.
It's about you. Who you are beyond the flesh.
People's biggest obstacles are their minds; thinking is the source of so much suffering. But, unfortunately, we often let emotions, assumptions, and internal self-talk control our life without interjection.
Road rage, the nasty email reply, the hurtful words are all born from emotions and our egos.
Developing a spiritual practice is less about religion and more about mindfulness and compassion.
Meditating, being mindful in every situation, practicing gratitude, and showing compassion to others will transform you as a person.
I want to live a life of inner peace and less stress no matter what's thrown at me (another core value of mine).
I want to be present in every moment and not take my life for granted. With every second that passes, we all die a little more, and I want to be mindful of that — so should you.
It's always important to remember that with every light, there's darkness.
The two are not mutually exclusive. They ebb and flow together. Understand there will be days of light and days of darkness.
It's impermanence — nothing ever stays the same.
With happiness comes suffering. With birth comes death. With yin comes yang.
Celebrate both and constantly work on your spiritual self.
It's who you truly are beyond the flesh.
It's the essence of you — you just may need to find it again.
But above all, learn to live in the present moment.
Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow may never arrive, so embrace all you have in every present moment.
If you're not mindful of every moment, you're rotten.
5/ Emotional
Emotion is about waking up being your own unique individual while not being controlled by desires and feelings.
Your emotions can lead you to a rotten life, and many people follow this path. They get angry because of an email. Then, they're burdened by low-level anxiety that controls their life.
For me, I invest in my emotional self to live a ripe life by waking up and doing the things I love.
I love spending time with people close to me, learning, mentoring, and creating products and teams while building something meaningful that survives beyond me.
And I do this with little stress, no matter what situation arises.
I've learned to roll with the punches, controlling the emotions that arise in stressful situations.
I'm committed to surrounding myself with good people. People who I love and can add value to their lives. I cut toxic people from my life as fast as they enter it.
If you don't plan to tackle these each day, you'll be rotten by the end.
You must control your emotional self.
6/ Purpose and Work
This has many different meanings to each unique person, but work is about fulfilling your purpose in some way.
It's not always perfect, but so many people get caught in the trap of using work solely for money, but money will never alone create a happy life. Sure, money can buy freedom and flexibility, but it doesn't purchase purpose.
Work is where you execute your purpose, learn new skills, meet amazing (and often not so amazing) people, and learn to manage your emotions while improving yourself.
But, this is only if you look at work as a medium to develop yourself and help others.
Your work is a byproduct of the life you want to live.
Find your purpose, and then pair your work to help execute on that mission.
If you want to live the life you deserve, it better not be rotten.
Do everything you can to ripen your life.
Know your Return On Time and live your life to the fullest.
