Your Rear Deck Speech …

  • Posted by Adrian
  • July 15, 2008

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Your Rear Deck Speech …

Yessiree, today is the day that we get to kick back on our nice big deck behind our house, hands in our braces, chewin’baccy in our mouth, straw hat shading us from the late sun, smoke and the yummy smell of barbequed tofu comin’ from the grill, and talk about …

… our favorite subject: me!

Well, you …

You see, I simply want Your Future Self to take a look at your pages of notes from the last few days, looking at what you wanted in your life and how you kicked those nasty self-imposed limitations away.

I then want you to mentally sit on your deck (don’t have a deck? Don’t worry, just imagine yourself sitting on the one that you will have in 40 or 60 years time!) as a much, much older version of yourself, with your grandchildren sitting next to you … if you don’t intend to have any, then picture some kids from the local orphanage who you take under your wing from time to time.

[AJC: if that doesn't put you in an open, emotional frame of mind, nothing will ... go shopping and be done with it!]

… and, I want you to tell them about your life and why it was such a wonderful life.

I know that at 24, the temptation will be to talk about that F430 Ferrari … but, you got rid of that when you were … achemmm … young.

Now, that you have finally realized that life is really about the ‘big picture’ (first opened up to you many, many years ago when some crazed blogger asked you to write out some lists of ‘wants’) …

… you really want to give your grandkids the foresight that you wished that you had when you were their age, when they sit back open-eyed and innocently ask you:

“So, Grandma/Grandpa, tell me what made your life so special …?”

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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
anotherJason
Posted on:
July 15, 2008 at 9:09 am

You got me on this one AJC :)
I think I mentioned my love of Ferraris in one of my emails/posts; but, you’re right! I went back and reviewed all of my notes on our last four exercises. Not one mention of that Ferrari anywhere.

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
AJC
Posted on:
July 15, 2008 at 9:31 am

@ Jason – Great! On a purely practical note: instead of the F430, buy a slightly used Maserati Gransport Spyder … 80% of the enjoyment at about 40% of the price. A bargain ;)

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Lee
Posted on:
July 15, 2008 at 10:59 am

Since I seem to be the “old dude” in this bunch and since I already have the grandkids asking “grandaddy” this very question let me be quick to give you my answer.
On one side, “nothing is Special about my life because life isn’t about me”. But on the other side “my life has been Special because of people like my loving wife and children who have given me those grandchildren”.

But let me go a little bit further with this discussion.
What makes my life special are the wise decisions I have made. What would have made my life “more special” would have been to make those decisions earlier in life. I want to make sure my grandchildren have the opportunity and encouragement to make the right decisions now when they will be able to reap the benefits.
I would also make sure they understand that decisions without commitment and follow through and just meaningless words. You can’t eat words, you can’t buy a house with words, you can’t purchase gas with words, you can’t even show love with words. Words are cheap but life is costly.

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
AJC
Posted on:
July 15, 2008 at 1:44 pm

@ Lee – Your ‘party’ is nowhere near over, Lee. What would make your life even more special when you are done? What decisions do you NOW still need to take? When will you take them? What material things (if any?) will allow you to take them easier?

We will (finally) get onto the subject of material things (Aha! Money, at last!!) NEXT week … :)

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
AJC
Posted on:
July 15, 2008 at 1:55 pm

@ ALL – Guess what I just found? Just SOME of my notes from when I did this very same series of exercises in 1998!

For example: here is what I DID want in my life: warmth; success; creative space; acknowledgement.

And, here appears to be just a small fragment of my ‘rear deck speech’ [not sure where the rest went ... perhaps my 'grandchildren' ate it?!]:

“… Fruits of Life, moving forward, experiencing everything, the world as a stage, making sure the show goes on …”

Tomorrow is ‘D’ Day … the day you DECIDE your Life’s Purpose …. [gulp] ….

Comment Number:
6
Written by:
Lee
Posted on:
July 15, 2008 at 3:00 pm

I guess when the “party” is over what would make my life more special would be knowing that my grandchildren are cared for not only from what is left over from my successes but also from them learning some of the skills that I demonstrated to them.
The decisions I NOW still need to make are how much am I willing to “risk” and what will it take to satisfy my desire? I am ready and willing to take the risk now and I believe that my satisfaction level will be at the point of oweing no one anything and being able to help others do what they want to do to succeed.
Obviously the material things needed will be money and as I have mentioned before a “Retreat Center” where I can provide training and encouragement to those who struggle where I have already been.

Comment Number:
7
Written by:
Deanna
Posted on:
July 15, 2008 at 7:07 pm

I’m going to have to chew on this a lot I can tell, but my gut reaction was “time” – that it all boils down to time for me – “well kids, my life was special because I was able to take the time to spend with my children, my husband, and now you little rug rats – I was able to find the time to travel and the time to give to others.”

I’ll put more thought to this though – the above is my initial gut response ;-)

Comment Number:
8
Written by:
Jeff
Posted on:
July 15, 2008 at 8:11 pm

AJC,

Can I do this by my swimming pool over looking my vast estate and collection of Ferraris? A wood deck just doesn’t seem like a large enough goal to me. :-)

Jeff
I’m Minding My Own Business, are you minding yours?

Comment Number:
9
Written by:
AJC
Posted on:
July 15, 2008 at 8:29 pm

@ Jeff – Did I say wood? Sorry, I meant the aft deck of the USS Nimitz “moved into private hands after the Navy decommissioned it in 2014″ ;)

Comment Number:
10
Written by:
anotherJason
Posted on:
July 16, 2008 at 7:56 am

@AJC – I will admit, I’ve always had an eye for Ferrari red; but, the car that loads first at the Maserati website is Hot!

Comment Number:
11
Written by:
Still struggling? «
Posted on:
August 1, 2008 at 11:32 am

[...] Then IT suddenly popped into my head – the line buried deep in my Rear Deck Speech: [...]

Comment Number:
12
Written by:
Man plans, God laughs … « How to Make 7 Million in 7 Years™
Posted on:
September 2, 2008 at 2:48 am

[...] Tim’s worksheets are great, but when you write your Rear Deck Speech properly (from my 7 Millionaires … In Training! ‘grand experiment’), you will [...]

Comment Number:
13
Written by:
Josh’s Life Purpose «
Posted on:
September 21, 2008 at 2:48 am

[...] life’s purpose was formulated mostly by imagining sitting with my grandchildren and trying to impart some kind of wisdom that would help make their lives as fulfilling as I hope [...]

Comment Number:
14
Written by:
Passion before money … « How to Make 7 Million in 7 Years™
Posted on:
October 7, 2008 at 6:50 am

[...] all these questions, obviously the last is the key … and it is the purpose of the Rear Deck Speech – designed to make you think past ‘things’ and to the more deep/meaningful aspects of [...]

Comment Number:
15
Written by:
I don’t get the point of the exercise at all … «
Posted on:
October 13, 2008 at 4:57 am

[...] whole concept of the Number, Your Rear Deck Speech, and the associated “Lee’s List” is difficult because it is intangible and [...]