Why Thinking “My Life Ends Today” Somehow Makes Me Feel Better

Self-help and mental health advice sometimes includes an exercise like this:

“If today were the last day of your life, how would you spend it?”

Apparently, the question is meant to help you reconsider what truly matters in life.

When something unpleasant happens at work or thinking about the future makes me feel depressed, I try this approach too.

Strangely enough, it makes me feel better.

That is because tomorrow’s work, next month’s bills, and all my worries about the future suddenly stop mattering.

It does not matter if a client complains or what anyone thinks of me. If everything ends today, none of it is relevant.

It is quite a powerful way of thinking.

However, it has one major flaw.

If you genuinely act as though your life will end today, the life waiting for you tomorrow will be a disaster.

If There Is No Tomorrow, There Are No Worries

Many of the worries people carry are about the future.

What will my work situation look like next month? Will I have enough money for retirement? What will happen to my relationship with that person?

We repeatedly simulate things that have not even happened yet, exhausting ourselves in the process.

But the moment we add the condition that “everything ends today,” those worries disappear.

If there is no tomorrow, there is no need to worry about it. Other people’s opinions and the sacrifices we make for the future no longer matter either.

It becomes clear just how much of the present we usually sacrifice for the sake of the future.

When you are mentally exhausted, simply thinking this way can make you feel lighter.

But If There Is No Tomorrow, There Is No Point in Making an Effort Either

The problem is that the same logic works in the opposite direction.

If your life ends today, there is no need to study or improve your professional skills. There is no point in looking after your health either.

By that logic, spending all your savings would be the rational choice.

There would be no need to put up with unpleasant people or to build trust for the future.

Your anxiety about the future disappears, but so do your hopes for it and your willingness to work toward it.

That is a problem.

And unfortunately, tomorrow arrives as usual.

Whatever your past self may have been thinking, the bills still arrive right on schedule.

What Is the Real Purpose of This Exercise?

To begin with, this exercise is not telling you to abandon your life from tomorrow onward.

It is an exercise for clarifying what truly matters to you in life.

For example, imagine a day off when you still have unfinished work.

In Japan, people are often inclined to give up their day off and finish the job if work remains.

But if today were the last day of your life, would you make that choice?

You would probably drop the work and choose to spend time with your family.

If so, perhaps you could spend your day off with your family even when it is not the last day of your life.

You can resume the work on Monday.

In fact, in places such as Europe, it is common to see people prioritize days off and time with their families even when work remains unfinished.

Meeting a work deadline or spending time with your family: which matters more in your life?

I think that is what this exercise is really asking.

You Can Spend Time with Your Family Even When It Is Not the Last Day of Your Life

We put important things off, telling ourselves, “I’m busy right now,” or “I’ll do it when this job is finished.”

But as soon as one job is done, another one comes along.

If you plan to spend time with your family only after everything has been taken care of, that day will never come.

That is precisely why we imagine the last day of our lives: to identify what matters to us and reflect those priorities in our everyday lives.

I work to support my life. Work itself is not the purpose of my life.

If that is true, continually sacrificing my life for work is completely backward.

“If today were the last day of your life, what would you do?”

If your answer is “spend time with my family,” there is no need to wait until the last day of your life.

That said, if you said at a Japanese company, “My family is the most important thing in my life, so I’m going home even though the work isn’t finished,” your boss would surely reply:

“That’s a wonderful attitude. By the way, the deadline is Monday morning, right?”