Robin Sharma (author of The 5AM Club and The Everyday Hero Manifesto) presents a short talk arguing that the root of many common fears (failure, ridicule, not fitting in, fear of success) is an ambient fear of death. He reads an excerpt titled "Death's just a hotel room upgrade" from his book to illustrate a view of death as a peaceful, upgraded transition rather than something to dread. Sharma links dissolving this fear to greater leadership, performance, and freedom to live one’s highest promise, and he recommends spiritual practices (prayer, meditation, journaling, conversations with elders) as ways to move through the fear.
Questions this video answers
"Death's just a hotel room upgrade."
In April.
Chapters
Hey, it's Robin Sharma, Author of the 5M Club and the Everyday Hero Manifesto. So, some good news. I submitted the revised manuscript of my new book, which will be coming out in April. I submitted it to my publisher last Tuesday. So now I am on a little bit of a summer break and I wanted to share an insight that I really believe will be enormously valuable to you. And that is the number one fear to cure. And I'm going to get right to it. The number one fear I think we all should be working on healing and dissolving is the fear of death. I believe that the fear of failure and the fear of being ridiculed and the fear of not being good enough, the fear of being busy versus doing real work, and the fear of not fitting in and the fear of success. All those fears fundamentally come down to a fear of death. I almost call it an ambient fear. As human beings, as we go through life, we have this background noise of the fear of death. Because no matter where you live, what you do, what your past looks like, what your present currently is, we will all end up at the same place. Which is sorry to say it, but it's true. It's death. And if you do not heal your ambient fear, your background noise of dying, then at a subconscious level, you will never live your finest life and materialize your highest promise because you're contracted and you're restricted because you're in a state of fear. Limbic hijack. And I'd like to read a chapter of the Everyday Hero Manifesto to you called Death's just a hotel room upgrade because it's going to be really relevant. I have fear within me because I am human. My voice truly shook in terror when I was asked to speak in front of 10 people at at biology lab and university. When I meet celebrities, visit with someone new, or am questioned intensely by border control agents, I generally get nervous. As an introvert, I'm uncomfortable in social situations such as weddings, birthday celebrations and the ultimate torture chamber dinner parties. I'm going to just skip to it. I recently oh, here we go. But if there's one thing that has never frightened me at all, it's dying. I recently had a conversation with a good friend about death. He was speaking of how he spends a lot of time thinking about his ending. Seems he worries over how it will happen, what the experience will look like, and whether harps will be playing loud classical music on the other side.
For me, I'm actually looking forward to dying, if you don't mind me saying. I must Be clear. I love life. Intensely immense. And I'm having quite a ride. I live for my family. I adore my craft and the privilege to serve. I feel blessed to have such wonderful pals who make me think and laugh at times and eat too much cacio. Pepe, I totally get that life's a fleeting voyage and that all ends too soon. And that even with its inevitable tragedies, each day on earth is a very precious and perfect gift. Gift. Yet I'm not concerned about leaving. Because I sincerely believe that after our bodies degrade to dust.
All that we truly are continues. Our highest, wisest, strongest, undefeatable, noblest, eternal and all loving selves. Our souls return to the source from which they came and advance towards infinity. And I don't think this place that they go back to, or more precisely become fully immersed in is a bad place that we should be frightened of entering with hot fires and nasty rulers of the underworld waving their pitchforks at angels and swearing at saints. No, not at all. I believe that after we die, we simply go back to the light. A state of being that's complete creativity, total truth, epic bliss, limitless love, and a place with really, really great coffee. Okay, maybe I'm going too far on the coffee part yet. Please allow me to offer up this philosophical rant in another way. It's almost like as we do our earth walk, we're staying at a three or maybe four star hotel. Then when we die, nothing tragic happens really. We actually get upgraded to a five star property. The previous place looked good, but the new place will blow your mind. Why would you resist the transition when it's to an even better destination?
So that's from the Everyday Hero Manifesto, which is a book about productivity, elite performance, leadership, spirituality. And what lights up, as I understand it, is all about. The point is, through prayer, meditation, journaling, conversations with elders and mentors, I really invite you to start moving through your fear. And I'll move through my fear. It's less than ever before of dying. And I really do believe that when we die, we go to a better place. So why would you resist it? Why wouldn't you be friended?
