In this YouTube book‑tip, Nick Hutchison introduces Chris Meyer’s Life in 20 Lessons by explaining his personal fascination with death and the Stoic practice of memento mori. Hutchison frames the book as a guide that uses a funeral director’s perspective to help viewers prioritize what truly matters. He highlights three specific lessons: (1) Lesson 3 – “Avoid Judgment,” where Meyer’s experience seeing two bodies of different races reminds him that inside we are all the same, underscoring the futility of focusing on external differences; (2) Lesson 9 – “Become a Famillionaire,” which urges listeners to invest in authentic family relationships so that, at the end of life, they are surrounded by loved ones rather than strangers; and (3) Lesson 15 – “Stop Worrying About Money,” which argues that stress over finances distracts from living fully, and offers practical financial habits (reading Dave Ramsey, I Will Teach You to Be Rich, the Latte Factor) to secure a comfortable retirement without sacrificing experiences. Hutchison concludes by recommending the book to anyone feeling stress or regret, emphasizing that constant contemplation of death can keep one grounded and focused on meaningful living.
Chapters
Hello, Book Thinkers family! Today's book tip is going to come from a book that I just finished up, Life in 20 Lessons by author Chris Meyer: What a Funeral Guy Discovered About Life from Death. So when Chris reached out to me, he said, hey, I wrote this book, I'd love for you to read it and review it. And when I looked at the title and when I looked at the subtitle, I said, that's a book for me. And the reason is, is I love reading about death, I love learning about death, and death is always on my mind. Now Before you look at that as a negative statement or something that's dark and eerie and scary, it's not. Over the last couple years, I've learned a lot about death. I've read books like On the Shortness of Life by Seneca and Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. I've learned all about the concept of memento mori, which means remember death, and that's a term that the Stoics would use to consistently ground themselves and remind themselves that life is short and you need to act and prioritize accordingly. So when Chris reached out, like I said, I jumped at the opportunity. I wanted to know what a funeral guy learned about life from death. So in this book, there are 20 lessons, 20 lessons that he has learned throughout his life at various stages as the owner and operator of a funeral home. And he still owns funeral homes today. There are 3 of those lessons specifically that I'd like to talk about. And the first lesson is lesson number 3 in the book, and that is to avoid judgment. So Chris, as the owner and operator of a new funeral home, walked into 2 posted bodies. And what that means is he walked in the door and he saw 2 posted bodies, kind of like in the TV shows CSI or Bones, whatever the case may be. And both bodies were displayed on the table and they were opened up. I know it's a, it's a little bit gruesome, right? But both bodies were opened up, and as he observed the bodies, a realization came over him. One body was white and one body was Black, but on the inside they were exactly the same. Now, that might sound a little cliché, but it's 100% true. All of the time that we spent focused on deciphering differences between people, whether it's race or whether it's sexual preference, whether it's political party, whether it's ethnicity, where you come from, what your culture says you're supposed to do, it doesn't matter. We spend all this time All of this time focused on differences, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. What a fantastic lesson to come from somebody who spends time in funeral homes. On the inside, we're all exactly the same. We all want the same things in life: food, shelter, wellness for our family, protection, etc. So I thought that was a really heartwarming lesson. Lesson number 3, I really liked it. Number 9: Become a famillionaire. A familionaire is somebody who's rich in family. As Chris was talking through this chapter, I think a lot of different things resonated with me, but the— I think the biggest one was probably, who do you want at your deathbed? When you're dying, what kind of audience do you want around you? And if you can spend the time nurturing a fantastic family— it's funny how simple it is to have authentic interactions with your family members, yet most of us never do it. You never spend the time to have an authentic, genuine conversation with your parents, an adult conversation. That's something that a lot of people miss out on in life. So become a familionaire. Practice that now, today. Reach out to your family members, interact with them, whether it's your friends or your family. They're all your family. And make sure that the people surrounding you when you're on your deathbed are loved ones and people that you've selected and chosen to interact with in a positive, authentic way. And then number 15. Number 15 also resonated with me because the title was Stop Worrying About Money. That's something that as an early 20s or mid-20-year-old person, it's an intimidating thing, right? Stop worrying about money. But the more I read about all these successful people, the less they care about money and the more they care about the process and having fun along the way. There are so many simple tips and tricks that you can use to secure yourself financially for the rest of your life. And to make sure that when you retire at age 65, you are a millionaire. It doesn't take a lot of money to do that. So as long as you're working hard, you're investing for the future, you read a couple books like The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, or there's a new book that I just got called I Will Teach You to Be Rich, and all of these different books, The Latte Factor, they'll have strategies that you can implement to ensure financial security for your future. And then When you stop wasting all this time stressing about money, you have the opportunity to live a better life. You don't want to be sitting on your deathbed with all this money in the bank thinking, "Wow, I can't believe I worried about it my entire life, and I didn't take advantage of certain opportunities, and I didn't you know go on these trips and these vacations, and I didn't spend the money with my family, etc." You don't want to have those regrets in life. So stop worrying about money. Don't let it stress you out. It'll cause more problems than good. It'll cause fights and things like that. So overall, I really. Love this book. I think it pays big dividends to think about death all the time. It'll help you prioritize things in your life. It'll help you stay grounded. And that was just a brief introduction to the book. Those were 3 out of the 20 lessons and my interpretation of them. There are 17 other great lessons in this book. So if I was you and you experience stress or you think you're going to regret things in your life, definitely pick up a copy of this book. Even if that's not your experience, pick up a copy of this book. Support Chris. I think that he has A lot of fantastic wisdom in this book. And with that, I hope everybody has a fantastic day. Bye.
