Thrive Beyond Survival, By Choosing the Life You’re Building
Cipherline - Open edition - Week 3, 2026
Introduction
From Decoding to Direction
Over three weeks, we’ve slowed down.
In Cipherline 1 of 2026 we decoded the year that was and in Cipherline 2, we aligned what needed honesty.
Now comes the question most people avoid:
What am I actually building this life toward?
Decode: Thriving Begins With Perspective
The Brand Looking Forward
2026 is about rolling out Stage Two for Decode Your Diagnosis:
Community, coaching, and courses
Book Two: The Alignment Pathway
Co-authored work with Firestarters
Speaking and patient advocacy
Consistent, sustainable growth, not bursts of intensity
The foundation is set, now it’s about coherence.
My Thriving Lens
In December, I wrote my eulogy. Not from morbidity, but from clarity. I was inspired by the concept raise in Don Miller’s book Hero on a Mission where it asked:
If my life were complete, what would I want people to say about me at my funeral?
From that final image, I worked backwards and considered goals 10 years, 5 years and 1 year out.
Suddenly, daily decisions became simpler because each activity I do now relates to long terms goals to live a fulfilling life.
In thriving, I’ve learned living close to the knife edge of time (as described in my book), with the end in mind, means I’m awake to the fact that days matter.
Your Thriving Lens
Use a thriving abundance lens as a way to reflect back on 2025 and look forward to your ideal self at the end of 2026, 2031 and 2036. What is the someone you and those around you will be proud of at your funeral as they read your eulogy.
With that reference in mind, what does 2025 look like for you as a reflective lens on your future?
Align: Bringing the Future Into the Present
Thriving doesn’t require certainty, it requires direction.
For you, this might mean:
Writing your own eulogy, privately and honestly
Naming what “enough” looks like
Setting goals that honour your health, not override it
This isn’t ambition, it’s about stewardship of the life you still have.
Thrive: Beyond Survival
Survival asks, How do I get through this?
Thriving asks, What am I here to create?
If 2025 was about endurance, let 2026 be about intentionally becoming.
Not faster.
Not louder.
Just truer.
Fama’s Nudge
Key Insight:
Thriving is living today in service of the life you hope to have lived.
Three Closing Reflections:
What would a well-lived life say about me?
What matters enough to shape the next decade?
What small, daily action honours that future version of me?