When he’s not working as chairman and CEO of Fishers, IN-based healthcare real estate company Invesque, you might find Scott White speaking to a group about his new book, “The Life Is Too Short Guy: Strategies to Make Every Day the Best Day Ever.” He recently spent a few minutes with McKnight’s Senior Living discussing the philosophy he shares in the book and the steps others can take to start living their best lives.
Q: How did you first decide you wanted to write a book?
A: Writing a book has been a bucket list item, and then about two years ago, during COVID, I started working with a new executive coach. In our second session, after I’d done an assessment in the first session, he said to me, “You’re like ‘Mr. Life is Too Short Guy.’ Everything is, ‘Get it done today. Time is running out.’” I mentioned that to my wife, and she said, “Maybe that’s the book you always wanted to write.”
That was in early 2021. In early 2022, I came across a professor from Georgetown, Eric Koester, who teaches in the MBA program. He designed a course about writing and publishing a book. I signed up for it, and the rest became history. He has a separate publishing company, and they reviewed my book and said they’d publish it.
Q: How did you come up with the Life is Too Short Guy philosophy?
A: If you had asked me two years ago to define my core principles, I wouldn’t have called it the Life is Too Short Guy philosophy, but I would have told you some of the things that I believe and how I live my life. When you put pen to paper, things start to clarify. It’s really just who I am and how I live. It’s not something I created for the book.
Q: I don’t want to give too much away, but could you share the basic principles of the philosophy?
A: I’m happy to. I’m not worried about giving things away. I really want to spread this message. I’m on this mission to make the world happier, one smile at a time.
There are 10 principles. In each chapter, I lay out a principle and then I give examples — either from my own personal life or from people who have had major setbacks or epiphanies, people who have had to deal with injuries or overcoming major illnesses or, unfortunately, having to deal with death or attempted suicide — to help illustrate the principles.
“The key overarching message of the book is, don’t wait for that proverbial kick in the head. Don’t wait for that bad medical diagnosis or some sort of setback in life. Today is your ‘aha’ moment. Go out and live your best life. Make today the best day ever, and then when you wake up tomorrow, do it again.”
—Scott White
The first principle is, attitude is everything, the power of positivity. The second principle is, choose your attitude and own it. Obviously, those two are connected.
The third principle is, little things make a big difference. Not only in this principle but throughout the book, I want readers and listeners to be able to take away small tools, small opportunities to live a happier, more fulfilling life. It’s not “throw out your whole old life and start a whole new life.” It’s “make small tweaks around the edges.” Smile more, spend more time with friends — that kind of thing.
The fourth one is, minutes matter. I talk about how to think about minutes differently and think about your time differently. I don’t give you a guide to how to use your minutes, and I don’t judge how you use your minutes. You choose how you use your minutes. But I think so many people aren’t proactive and thinking deliberately about how they’re using their minutes. Are they using them wisely? Are they using them in a way that makes them happy?
The fifth one is, funny things are everywhere. And, of course, I quote Dr. Seuss: “From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!” I encourage people to find humor wherever they are. Laugh often. Laugh at yourself. Laugh at the world around you. Just laugh and enjoy life and don’t take it too seriously.
The sixth principle is, learn, learn, learn. Have a growth mindset, and find ways to learn something new every day. Improve yourself.
The seventh one is, take a chance, and get it done today. Stop with the excuses. Stop with the fear, with the risk, the why not. Go out and take a chance.
I talk about a book that was written by an Australian palliative care nurse. It’s called “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying,” and the key message from it is, the biggest regret people have on their deathbed is the regret of what they didn’t do. It’s not the regret of a mistake. It’s not the regret of something stupid they did. It’s the regret of what they didn’t do. So wake up today and do it. Stop making excuses. Stop with the fear and the risk, and do it.
The eighth principle is passion. A lot of people talk about purpose, and I think purpose is overused. I like to talk about passion. Find your passion, and go out and embrace it.
I’ve done hundreds of interviews over the course of my career, and when I interview people, my favorite interview question is, “What are you passionate about?” And it’s shocking to me how many people look at me with a blank stare and say, “What do you mean? Personally or professionally?” “I don’t care. What are you passionate about?”
I think you should be able to answer that question without even thinking. There should be something in your life that really inspires you, motivates you, excites you, gets you fired up, gets the juices flowing. It’s a way of identifying yourself. It’s a way of spending the time, the energy, the resources. Whatever it is, find your passion.
And, by the way, your passion will change. Your passion isn’t the same over a lifetime. But what is your passion? Go out and embrace that.
No. 9 is, can’t make it alone. I talk about the importance of social interaction, about building relationships, about investing in relationships.
We spend time investing time and energy in our business and in our portfolio and maybe in our physical health, but how often do we have a relationship plan and go out and invest in building and growing relationships?
I cite the Harvard Study of Adult Deveopment, which I think a lot of people are talking about today. It’s the longest-running longitudinal study on what makes a good life. It started in the late 1930s and originally involved 700-plus participants who were followed their entire lives, and their children and their grandchildren. The key takeaway summarizes what makes a good life. The most important thing to a good life is relationships and the power of relationships. They have lots of empirical evidence that it’s more important in terms of your long-term happiness and health than even exercise and what you eat.
It’s all about the power of relationships, and one of the stats that I talk a lot about that I love is that those at age 50 who self-identified as having the strongest relationships, at age 80, 30 years later, were the happiest and physically and mentally healthiest. I think it’s a pretty compelling statistic.
And then the tenth principle is, LIVE. Live today, don’t wait for tomorrow. And there, I talk about how tomorrow is not guaranteed, and I encourage people to think about what they would expect to be the message on their tombstone. What would be the message of their eulogy? Are you living that kind of life today? If not, then wake up. Today is your day to change.
The key overarching message of the book is, don’t wait for that proverbial kick in the head. Don’t wait for that bad medical diagnosis or some sort of setback in life. Today is your “aha” moment. Go out and live your best life. Make today the best day ever, and then when you wake up tomorrow, do it again.
Q: How do you incorporate this philosophy into your professional life?
A: It permeates everything I do in the office. We were just recognized for the fourth time as one of the Best Places to Work in Indiana, and I think a big part of that is the culture we’ve built. We have an amazing culture. People love to be there. We have very little turnover. That’s all because of these principles. The power of positivity and attitude, and the importance of social interaction, and the importance of doing what you love and thinking about how you’re using your minutes. All of this is a complete part of our culture at Invesque, and it’s why I believe people want to be part of our team and stay.
Q: If people are looking to live their best lives, where is a good place to start?
A: You don’t have to make major changes in your life. You can make small changes.
The first thing you can do is change how you wake up tomorrow morning. I say there are three sets of lenses or glasses sitting by the side of your bed. Many people put on the blurry glasses — “I woke up. I don’t know what I have to do today. It’s Thursday, I think. I don’t know.” Some people, unfortunately, put on the muddy glasses — “It’s cold. I’m warm in my bed. I don’t want to get up. I’ve got a lot to do today. I don’t feel like doing this.”
Wake up tomorrow morning and put on clear, bright glasses. Wake up and be grateful and happy. Open your eyes.
The first 10 seconds of my day, I’m happy to be in bed with someone I love. I’m happy to have a roof over my head. I’m happy to have an opportunity to go down and have breakfast. I’m happy to have an opportunity to meet you today and have this interview. I’m happy to have an opportunity to present at a real estate conference. Those are the first 10 seconds of my day.
That’s an easy tool. Many people have said to me that after hearing that, they deliberately and proactively have tried to do that most mornings, and it changes their perspective. It sets the road map for the day.
There are no guarantees. You don’t wake up and you’re all happy and all of the sudden you have the best day ever. But why not start down that path?
And I talk about the power of smiling. We don’t smile enough. It’s such a simple concept. Find reasons to smile. It makes you feel better and makes the world around you better. It’s great for everyone.
