I’m constantly reminded of how important it is to live life to it’s fullest. One week ago I received the sad news that a friend had passed very unexpectedly while riding his bike and experiencing a fatal cardiac episode. My thoughts and prayers went immediately to his wife and family.

It didn’t take his passing for those who knew Mike Harris to understand what a special person he was. Outside of being a husband, father, senator, judge, and fellow Body-for-LIFE champion, he was one of the most selfless people I’ve ever met in the fitness community, or in life for that matter...always lending words of wisdom, being a source of knowledge and inspiration, and leading by example.

At age 63, he was two weeks into a new p90x fitness challenge and was biking on a trail he’d wanted to ride the day he passed. He was always finding new ways to challenge himself. He showed that it’s never too late to start working towards new goals and what is possible if you take control of how you choose to spend each day. Clearly, he wasn’t one to sit around and let life pass him by. In the rollercoaster of emotions that followed the news of his passing, I began to find solace in the fact that Mike had truly lived life to it’s fullest.

We’ve all heard the rhetorical questions, “If you died today, what would your tombstone say?” or “If you had only 1 year to live, how would you spend it?” Have you become all that you hoped you would be in life? Are there things you want to do, but haven’t had the courage to do? Are there things you’ve been procrastinating on? What’s holding you back from being the person you really want to be?

Maybe you know you need to start eating right and lose some weight, but you keep falling into old habits time and time again. Maybe there is something that keeps getting put on the back burner, because you’re too busy, too tired, or you’re too scared to try it out. Maybe you haven’t reached certain goals in your career or personal life that you thought you would have by now. Maybe you’ve been putting off that vacation you know your family deserves, because you haven’t made it a priority.

Whatever your unfinished business might be, take a moment and think about how you can bring those things to fruition. Write down your goals: daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. Make a “bucket list” and write down the things you want to do before you die. The simple act of writing things down is extremely powerful! Do it!!!

Make a plan to start crossing things off your list. Don’t waste time beating yourself up over what you haven’t accomplished, but instead start focusing on what is ahead in your future. Make the conscious decision to be like Mike. Try something new, challenge yourself, and push past your comfort zone.

You can either waste time thinking of all the things you haven’t accomplished or you can take a leap of faith and put forth the effort needed to become all that you were meant to be now. It’s never too late! Stop ignoring that voice inside of you that’s been whispering a dream you haven’t gone after, and start living each day as if it were your last. You have the power to decide where your life is headed from here on out.