One Life – Waste Wisely

Hey team. Here we are. I wanted to chat with you for a minute. I saw this quote. It was on Facebook or something like that. I get a lot of them, probably because my feed tells me so. I don’t want to get into quantum mechanics and how the algorithms of social media work—like when you look for something about golf with your son, and suddenly, all you see is golf, golf, golf, golf, golf. It’s crazy. Whatever you’re looking at, the behind-the-scenes AI of social media suddenly makes that all you see. I could probably talk about that for weeks, but I won’t because I only have a couple of minutes with you.

I like quotes, leadership stuff, things like that, and I saw one that got me thinking: You’ve got one life. Waste it wisely.

You’ve got one life. Waste it wisely.

I don’t know about you, but as we’re coming to the end of this year, I think about my life—what I’ve done in the last year. What has mattered? What hasn’t? Did I waste any time?

I’m getting older—some of you know I’m 249 now—and I think about whether I’m wasting my time wisely. Am I using my time in the most positive ways? What are the most positive things? For me, sometimes these Monday and Wednesday videos I’m doing for you are about trying to waste my time wisely.

Those of you who watch them and like them, I’d love to hear about it. I appreciate it. I hope you talk about them with your teams: “Hey, did you see what Chad said Monday? Did you see what Chad said Wednesday?” I hope you’re having those conversations because I’m trying to waste my time wisely.

I’m thinking about how I can encourage, enhance, and lift you up.

To help you think about being a better version of yourself for your family, friends, and community. Those are the things I think about often. Not too long ago, I had a thought. I’m doing these videos on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then I thought about the fact that my time, at some point, will end. I don’t want this to be a somber thing, like, “Oh my God, Chad’s talking about dying.” But someday, we’re all not going to be here anymore. And that’s okay. I get that.

But I was thinking, if it happens suddenly, there will be a few hundred little clips of me talking that my boys can go back to. That got me thinking—that’s kind of cool. Whether I die in 20 months, 20 years, 50 years, or another 249 years from now, my boys, my family, my grandchildren will have a legacy. Little pithy quotes, funny things, silly things, and stupid things I’ve said over the years for them to see Grandpa or Dad.

I think that’s kind of cool. It might be something you want to do. Start doing little videos of yourself, talking to your children. Tell them the important things. Tell them the stupid things you did. The mistakes you made. Tell them now.

But maybe putting it on video means that when you’re gone, they’ll look at it, and suddenly, it’ll mean more to them. I know I try to tell JT stuff now, and he rolls his eyes. I have a feeling that when he’s 30, he might hear me say the same thing in a three-to-five-minute video and go, “Wow, my dad was really smart.”

Maybe he’ll say that. Who knows? We’ll see. Anyway, I just wanted to wish you a beautiful day. God bless you. Have a wonderful week, and remember: Be valuable. Nothing less will do.