97: Thai Nguyen: Dying to Live

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Thai Nguyen has been a 5-star chef, international kickboxer, and now writer at theUtopianLife.com & Spiritual Teacher; born in Vietnam, raised in Australia, completed my BA in Humanities/Theology in Texas.

Favorite Success Quote

“You have to die a few times before you can really live.” – Charles Bukowski

Key Points

1. If You Were to Die Today Would you Be Happy

Stop what you are doing right now.

Seriously.

Stop what you are doing and think about this question.

If you had only one hour left to live, if you had just enough time to say your final goodbyes and make amends, would you be happy with how you had lived?

Would you be proud of your accomplishments? Would you be proud of how you showed up for the people in your life? Would you be proud of the man that you have become?

If not, then you need to make a change.

Not tomorrow, not next week, not next year.

Right now.

Life is too damn short to live in an uninspiring and unhappy way.

If you wouldn’t be proud of the life that you have lived, then change something today. 

2. Embrace the Journey

Life is a journey.

It is not a destination.

And quite frankly, who you are and what you want will change as you progress through life.

So don’t worry about having it all figured out right now.

Just embrace the journey.

Enjoy the ride.

And most of all, love the life you have while you create the life of your dreams.

3. Distinguish Your Values and Your Vehicle

You need to develop a clear understanding of the difference between your values and your vehicle and realize that your vehicle is not set in stone.

What do I mean by this?

Each of has values.

We have certain beliefs that we live by, activities that we enjoy, and lifestyles that we want to pursue.

And it’s so easy to get caught up in those values that we forget the flexibility we have when choosing the vehicle that will allow us to live out those values.

For example, if you love surfing, this doesn’t mean that your vehicle needs to be surfing.

As long as you have a career that allows you to dedicate the major portion of your day to your passion, you are set.

Learn to be ok with having disparate value and vehicles.

It is the fastest way to live a life of passion and joy.

4. Comfort Sabotages Your Success

If you get too comfortable, you will fail.

Maybe not at your job, in your relationship, or in your health… but in life.

Comfort is the great killer of dreams and ambitions, because as soon as you are comfortable, you stop striving.

You stop searching for that next level.

You stagnate, wither away, and die.

Do not let this become your fate.

Each and every day, do something that makes you uncomfortable.

Do something that scares you, something that puts you out of your comfort zone.

This is the quickest way to accelerate your life and experience more joy, freedom, and happiness.

5. Learn to Fill Your Life with Different Ingredients

Life isn’t like a box of chocolates, it’s like a dish at a gormet restaurant, it needs to have the proper variety of ingredients.

If you want to live a fulfilling life, then you need to embrace variety.

Try new things, have new experiences, learn new skills, meet new people, and travel to new places.

The mundane and familiar are the great stealers of joy and happiness.

The new, the exciting, and the unknown will pressure you to keep growing and become the man that you were born to be.

Influential Books

A Manual for Living by Epictetus

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Connect with Thai Nguyen

theutopianlife.com