How Many Days Do You Have Left?

Yeah, I know.  Not exactly the question you were expecting right now.  But stay with me.

Most people never actually stop to think about how much time they might have left. And when they do, it often shifts how they think about and live their lives.

For most people reading this, the answer is probably a decent number of years.

And before we go any further, let me say this. I know there are people reading this who are dealing with real health challenges or have someone close to them who is. This is not meant to ignore that reality. It is simply a way to create perspective around the time we do have.

The idea is simple.

Take diseases, accidents, and all the unpredictable things in life off the table for a moment.

Then ask yourself a straightforward question.

What is a realistic age you believe you could live to?

If you want a starting point, the average life expectancy in the United States is about 78.6 years. You can use that. Or you can adjust it based on how you think about your own life.

When I last did this exercise, I went a little more optimistic. I picked 95.

At the time, that gave me roughly 14,600 days left.

How did I get there?

Nothing fancy.

I took my age, figured out how many days I had already lived, estimated my total days based on 95 years, and did the math.

Easy math. No advanced degree required. You won’t even need AI, but you’ll probably still want your calculator.

I recorded a short video that walks you through this step by step. It is something Great Lifers from my leadership program have found to be one of the more eye-opening exercises because once you see your number, it is hard to look at your time (and life) the same way.

If you’d rather watch it than read it, you can do that at the top of this page.

Now let's actually do it.

This will take you less than two minutes. Do it now. It’s worth it.

Grab your phone and let's do this.

1. How old are you?  Multiply your age by 365. That's how many days you've already lived.
2. What age do you think you could realistically live to?  Multiply that number by 365. That's your total days.
3. Subtract the two. Total days minus days lived.

That's your number – the number of days you’ve got left to live!

Now that you’ve got your number, pause for a minute.

Seriously. Do not rush past it.

Ask yourself:

What hit you when you saw your number?
What emotions came up?
Did anything surprise you?
How do you feel about how you are spending your days right now?

Write a few thoughts down. Even a couple of sentences is enough.

For most, this exercise will not tell them anything they didn’t already know. It just makes it harder to ignore.

When you see your time in days instead of years, it becomes more real. More tangible. More personal.

And for a lot of people, that changes how they think about what actually matters.

You may have more time than you thought. You may have less.

The point is not the number.

The point is what you do with it.

The way you spend your time is the way you are living your life. And the habits you choose each day are quietly shaping where that life is going.

One more thought.

Take a minute and ask someone you care about, a spouse, a friend, or a sibling, to figure out how many days they’ve got left.

Ask them the same simple question - How many days do you have left to live?

Compare your numbers. Talk about what came up for each of you.

Those are the kinds of conversations most people do not have often enough. And from my experience, they tend to be the most meaningful.

If this exercise gave you something to think about, consider passing it along.
Forward this to someone who you think would benefit from doing it.

You never know what a simple question like this might spark.

If you want something simple you can use or share with others, you can download the worksheet here:

Live Your Brand NOW, 
Gregg