The exercise of writing your own obituary works, but not because it makes you contemplate death: research on the future self and best-possible-self writing suggests the active ingredient is a vivid, valued picture of who you want to have been, concrete enough to act on

The instruction has a long pedigree. Write your own obituary, or your own eulogy, read back the summed-up verdict of your life, and then set about living so the words come true. Stephen Covey pu...