Eugene O’Kelly was one of the great ones in the Fortune 500. He was a visionary who achieved the American dream of massive success, great fortune, and a beautiful family. Life couldn’t have been more perfect. Then on May 24, 2005, he went to his doctor who told him he had 3 months to live. His lifetime of plans dwindled down to 100 days, leaving him just enough time to say goodbye. During those last 100 days of Eugene O’Kelly’s life, he wrote a book about how he managed his death the way any great CEO would. This is one of those books you just can’t put down. I’ve read it twice, and it’s left an indelible impression on my soul. At Mental Toughness University, we’ve been talking about creating a sense of urgency for your life since we opened the doors. Objective reality and critical thinking tell us there’s only so much time left for us to go after our dreams. What are we waiting for? What can the world take from us that won’t eventually be taken anyway? Eugene O’Kelly walks you through his thought process as he wraps up his affairs and say’s goodbye, and it’s a lesson in mental toughness I will never forget. The book is called Chasing Daylight: How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life. It’s not a morbid read and he doesn’t make you feel sorry for him. This guy was truely one of the great ones, and you can get inside his mind for a few bucks and a few hours of your time. It’s well worth it. Steve Siebold, CSP, CPCS
2 thoughts on “Mental Toughness Training from the CEO of KPMG”
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Obi is right about this story, Steve.
Even with it’s life and death not everyone rises to the occasion – treating every day as life and death is a reality worth respecting BUT do we do that every moment of every day?
So we come up with motivational tricks and mental exercises that some people are capable of using well – others fail to latch onto them.
Steve, everything you’ve written of and posted is clear to me even though I’m not 100% perfectly motivated every moment of my life – who is like that. Nevertheless I continue to visit and revisit what you have to say along with others because I’m motivated to do that and it continues to motivate me along with my other personal motivations.
Motivation especially sustained motivation is such a mystery yet we know it involves: 1. having a crystal clear vision and 2. having a “can do – will do” expectation.
That’s one of the BIG points of what you have to say, Steve AND what world class behavior does to accomplish it. I don’t know of a more worthy or important study and discipline.
Mike
This is a very important post and can ignite the fire in anyone needing motivation. Thanks for this Steve.