265. 4000 Mondays: Live better by acknowledging you will not live forever! with Jodi Wellman

In this episode, the Dr. Anna Marie with Jodi Wellman, founder of 4000 Mondays, about using the reality of our mortality as a powerful motivator to actually live. Drawing from her personal story of losing her mother, her work in positive psychology, and the concept of "memento mori," Jodi explains how acknowledging death can wake us up from autopilot, help us savor ordinary moments, and push us to avoid "pre-grets"—the regrets we're on track to have if we don't course-correct now. They explore savoring past, present, and future, living both wider (more fun, vitality) and deeper (more meaning, purpose), and taking small but bold actions to get off the sidelines of our own lives.

Key Points

• Using the Grim Reaper / memento mori as motivation to truly live
• Waking up from autopilot and choosing a "squander‑free" life
• Jodi's mom's unfulfilled dreams as a powerful wake‑up call
• Leaving a comfortable corporate job for more meaningful work
• Creating 4000 Mondays and using "mortality math" to spark urgency
• Savoring past, present, and future moments to feel more alive
• Balancing life wider (fun, vitality) and deeper (meaning, purpose)
• Noticing that disappointment and fear keep us from big dreams
• Understanding regrets of omission (what we never try) hurt the most
• Taking one small, concrete action now as a vote for being fully alive

Connect with Jodi Wellman:

Jodi Wellman is a leading authority on living lives worth living. As a TEDx speaker, researcher, and author, she helps people live squander-free lives while they're lucky enough to still be above ground—starting with the "big end" in mind. She named her business Four Thousand Mondays to shine a light on the finite number of weeks we have to truly live with intention.

She holds a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she serves as an Assistant Instructor in the master's program and a trainer in the world-renowned Penn Resilience Program. Through her research, she developed a model that teaches the interplay between living wider (with vitality) and deeper (with meaning), empowering people to experience life more fully.

A certified coach with 25 years of corporate leadership experience, she has coached hundreds of companies, teams, leaders, and individuals over thousands of hours to "carpe diem" at a highly advanced level. She regularly speaks on this topic, including her TEDx talk with over 1.3 million views, How Death Can Bring You Back to Life, and her book, You Only Die Once: How to Make It to the End with No Regrets.

Connect with Jodi:

Email: jodi@fourthousandmondays.com

Website: https://fourthousandmondays.com/

Connect with Anna:

Email: annamarie@happywholeyou.com / info@HappyWholeYou.com

Website: www.happywholeyou.com / https://linktr.ee/happywholeyou

Personal Website: www.DrAnnaMarie.com

Instagram: @happywholeyou

Personal Instagram: @Dr.Anna.Marie

Facebook: Happy Whole You

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