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How often do you think about death?
For many people, the idea of no longer existing is too painful and cruel and is often shunned, but a psychology expert believes people need to face their fear of death in order to live more fulfilling lives.
“My number one recommendation is to learn more about what I call the math of mortality,” Jodi Wellman, founder of Wellbeing Platform four thousand mondays Said in an interview with CNBC Make It. “Most people like to count their money, so I thought how about we count Mondays too?”
Wellman, who holds a master’s degree in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, recently published “you will only die once” This is a guide to help people reawaken their passion and curiosity for life.
She explained to CNBC Make It that the average person will experience 4,000 Mondays in their lifetime and recommended that people use calculator on her website.
This reminds people of the scarcity of time and prompts people to take action in their lives.
Wellman said it’s based on a concept called “temporary scarcity,” which means we value temporary assets more than infinite assets.
“So we have to really adapt to the temporality of our lives… because otherwise, we won’t take action and we’ll be stuck,” she warned.
Most people work unfulfilling jobs and put off passions like taking tennis lessons or learning Italian, but “then comes that elusive moment that may never come,” Wellman said. You’re more likely to book tennis lessons when you remember how many days are left.
“If you were to die tonight, what action would you like to take? Maybe today you have the opportunity to start taking action,” she added.
“Death can be a motivation”
The idea that death can be motivation has inspired Wellman for years.
“It’s ridiculous, we all work hard to achieve our goals, we all work hard to love our lives, but we all know we are limited. When one day we may find ourselves working very hard to love our lives, It’s that juxtaposition that I’ve always found interesting here.
Wellman said the key moment that encouraged her to pursue the topic was the death of her mother at age 58.
“The way I see it is that she died full of regrets about the various paths she didn’t take, like the business ideas she had but didn’t act on, the books she started writing, the stories she wrote but didn’t act on. None. It’s very sad to give in and have all these dreams lie dormant.
For Wellman, it was a “visceral wake-up call” that anyone can die young, but dying without regrets can be avoided.
“I think we can accept the fact that we’re temporary without necessarily making it morbid and use it as a spark plug to move on with our lives.”
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