Death is coming whether you like it or not, and there is no way to know when it will happen. It could be today, tomorrow, or forty years from now. Either way, it’s about the only thing in life that is certain.

I know that this is an uncomfortable thing to talk about. Most of us are not reminded of death on a daily basis, and people like to pretend that it doesn’t exist. But it does, and reminding yourself that your time is limited can be the biggest motivator to live life to its fullest and with purpose because it creates a sense of urgency.

Most importantly though, it helps you have appreciation for life itself, which is the ultimate form of gratitude.

I remember the exact moment that I had this realization for myself. I was eighteen and having a few drinks with some friends at the house. My buddy Arris had been grinding away at work for months and this was his first time being able to hang out with any of us since graduating.

He let loose a little bit too much that night and ended up dying from alcohol poisoning on my living room floor. It was fucked and will probably go down as the worst night of my life.

This was my first face-to-face encounter with death, and it changed my entire outlook.

Up to that point, I lived like most people: I wasted my time and had no respect for my life. When Arris died, it flipped a switch inside me, and I was never the same again.

I remember being heartbroken at the thought of him not being able to make the most of himself. That scared me, but also filled me with motivation. I became terrified of stagnation and living a mediocre life, not just for myself, but also for everyone I saw around me.

I realized that most people lived in a dream-like state where they pretended that death didn’t exist and because of that, they don’t take care of themselves or pursue meaningful goals.

This is what pushed me to start Norse Fitness and eventually the Norse Mentality. I wanted to wake people up and help them create a life of purpose and meaning. I wanted them to pursue life with intensity because I think that’s how it was meant to be lived.

That’s exactly what modern culture has convinced us is the “good life.” But in all reality, it’s the furthest thing from a good life; it’s a wasted one.

The reason it’s wasted is because you’re not living up to your highest purpose, which is to become the best version of yourself, and that’s what I’m going to tackle today.

We are going to discuss how to create a life of purpose. With a life of purpose, you can wake up each day grateful for another opportunity to make the most of yourself before your time is up.

The first step to doing this is to realize your potential.

Step One: Realize Your Potential

You are capable of becoming the champion of your own saga and climbing to the highest peaks of personal success.

When I say “personal success,” I’m not referring to working your ass off to make a bunch of money to buy shit that you don’t need just to impress other people. If you do live to an old age, you’re not going to give a shit about any of that because it’s superficial and means nothing.

What you’ll be doing is looking back at what you made of yourself and the memories you had with your loved ones. This is what will determine if you lived a successful life or not. To do this, you have to get clear about your morals and values and use them to guide your ship.

This is what will help you avoid a life of regret and be able to stay on your path.

We are surrounded by distractions and shiny objects that will try to pull us in different directions, and if you are not certain about your morals and values, you will waste your life away on things that do not serve your highest purpose.

Here’s a personal example: The thing I value most is my family, which is why I have a strict work cut-off every night to spend time with them. This is difficult because I own multiple companies and have an endless list of tasks to get done. But what makes it the hardest, is the underlying feeling of intense anxiety that I have honestly just gotten used to over the years.

I am constantly anxious if I’m not working because I have spent years going through hell and back to create this life for myself, and my biggest fear is that I could lose it all and my life would go back to how it used to be. Which is unrealistic, and never going to happen, but the anxiety is there regardless.

I also experience absolutely crippling depression if I am not moving forward towards my goals — which probably has something to do with my childhood as well.

So, it can be extremely tempting to work instead of spending time with my family because it’s a coping mechanism and I could easily justify it to myself.

I could say things like, “Well, the more I work, the better I can provide for them.”

What helps me not fall into this trap is putting myself in the shoes of future me. It’s reminding myself of what’s going to matter to that old man: The time he spent with his daughter is going to be the most important.

Giving myself a strict cut-off forces me to be extremely effective with my time.

I’m not a productivity junkie because I want to fit in with modern grind-culture and say, “Look at me and everything I’ve done”.

I don’t share my goals, and no one really knows when they are accomplished.

But my main driver for having tunnel vision on my top objectives is so I can turn off and be present with my family while also feeling fulfilled at the end of the day.

I would also consider this my biggest weapon against procrastination: I don’t ever want those I care about to suffer because I wasted time on bullshit that wasn’t moving us forward.

As men, we don’t have the option to waste time, especially on silly bullshit like video games and scrolling on social media. We are here to lead our tribe to victory, and it is the most noble purpose.

When you live in alignment with that purpose, you are filled with an unmatched energy to conquer and become the best version of yourself. That is what makes us feel the most alive. It is the purpose that nature gave us, and we become unstoppable when we follow this path.

It’s really no surprise to me when I look around and see so many people depressed and directionless. They are not doing what they were put on this earth to do and that’s because they have been fed a bullshit narrative of what their purpose is supposed to be.

They are stuck in the illusion that their potential is limited and that they are not really needed by society, which is the biggest lie ever told.

That leads me to the next point which is to develop a growth mindset.

Step Two: Develop a Growth Mindset

You have to believe in yourself and your ability to live a triumphant existence, and this will never happen if you have it stuck in your head that your potential has a ceiling on it.

You need to stack victories every day that will prove that you are limitless.

You have to set goals that are uncomfortable and difficult to achieve because it will result in growth, and with every goal you accomplish, that ceiling gets raised a little bit higher.

What most people fail to realize is that it’s impossible to improve if you are repeating the same easy tasks every day. They say they want to get better but put their life on repeat because it’s familiar and comfortable. They don’t add tension to their lives by learning and trying something new.

That’s why working out and reading should be non-negotiable for you.

The point isn’t to look better or be smarter than anyone else. It’s to create constant progress by always growing and improving.

Because whatever you are pursuing is never going to be as easy to accomplish as you originally thought. The only way to keep moving forward is to have emotional and mental strength, which is the recipe for resilience.

This all starts in your mind with a strong WHY.

Spend some time every morning visualizing how you want to show up in this world and why it’s important. Picture yourself staying strong when things start to get overwhelming. See yourself accomplishing your goals and becoming the best version of yourself.

This will help you overcome moments of weakness and continue on your path to victory.

Because you’re going to have moments of weakness — everyone does. You just have to choose not to let them define you.

You are not weak just because a battle is difficult. If anything, this is a sign of strength. Most people would give up — you just need to shift your perspective and continue moving forward to overcome the challenge.

The only way to do this is through self-control, which can be obtained by becoming more disciplined.

Step Three: Practice Discipline

Without discipline, you can never build better habits, and habits are what shape you into your strongest self.

You can think of habits as your armor and discipline as your sword. Both protect you from external and internal enemies. The enemy is all around you: It’s anything that has the ability to stop you from leveling up.

Whether it’s mainstream propaganda or years of programming, the enemy wants to keep you shackled to a life of mediocrity and your only chance of winning the fight is with strong habits and discipline.

To improve these two things, you need to decide on the person you want to become.

You must create a very detailed description of this individual by mapping out what habits this person has, then use the power of discipline to make it a reality.

Here’s the hard truth: no one is coming to save you.

You are the one who has to pick up that sword, put on that armor, and march forward. You are your own hero in this story. And the more you embrace that responsibility, the more unstoppable you become.

Because at the end of the day, the only thing worse than dying is dying without ever truly living.