Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

• http://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/