Each morning, as the world still sleeps, a profound heart awakening practice awaits you—one that transformed Steve Jobs from a college dropout into one of history’s greatest visionaries through a simple yet sacred mirror ritual.
In this article, I’ll share this transformative practice that Jobs used for 33 years, explain the science behind its power to awaken your heart’s wisdom, and guide you through implementing it in your own life. Whether you’re feeling disconnected from your purpose or simply seeking deeper meaning, this sacred morning practice holds the key to transforming your relationship with yourself and your life’s path.
Imagine standing before your mirror tomorrow morning, asking yourself one question so powerful it could transform your entire life’s direction. This isn’t just another morning routine—it’s a sacred practice that awakened Steve Jobs to his life’s purpose and led him to create one of the most innovative companies in history.
For 33 years, until his final days, Jobs began each morning by looking into his own eyes and asking himself:
“If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?”
In a world where millions wake up feeling disconnected, anxious, and unsure of their path, this profound question offers something rare: a direct gateway to your heart’s deepest wisdom. It cuts through the noise of daily life—the endless to-do lists, the social media notifications, the mounting pressures—and connects you with what truly matters.
How This Heart Awakening Practice Works
What makes this morning question so transformative isn’t just its connection to Jobs’ success. It’s that this question speaks directly to your heart’s innate wisdom—a wisdom that knows your true purpose but often gets drowned out by life’s constant demands and distractions.
When you stand before the mirror and ask this question, something extraordinary happens. The superficial concerns that usually fill your mind begin to fall away. That presentation you’re dreading, the email you’ve been procrastinating on, the relationship you’ve been settling for—suddenly, these situations appear in a new light. Your heart knows which parts of your life are aligned with your true purpose and which are merely filling time.
My Personal Journey Through This Heart Awakening Practice
While Jobs found his awakening in Silicon Valley, my own heart’s awakening happened in the unlikely setting of Hollywood. Back in 2007, I found myself in my Los Angeles apartment, surrounded by what looked like success in the entertainment industry. I had the right connections, worked on prestigious productions, and lived the “Hollywood dream.” Yet something felt deeply off. The glamour and excitement had faded into a numbing routine that left me feeling empty.
Then life delivered its wake-up call. My mother was diagnosed with cancer and came to live with me during her chemotherapy treatments. Those drives to the hospital, watching her fight for her life while maintaining her spirit, shook me to my core. During one particularly challenging morning, after another sleepless night spent questioning everything, I discovered Jobs’ mirror practice.
Standing before my bathroom mirror, barely able to look at my own reflection, I asked his question: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?”
The answer hit me like a physical force. No. A thousand times no. I didn’t want to spend my final moments on Earth caught up in the superficial dramas of Hollywood. I didn’t want to die knowing I’d never explored the deeper calling I felt stirring in my soul.
That morning marked the beginning of my transformation. My mother’s eventual recovery felt like a miracle, but it was also a message – life is precious and uncertain. Within months, I had left my entertainment career behind and found myself drawn to South Africa, where everything changed. That journey awakened something profound in me – a clear vision of my true purpose as a transformational coach, supporting others in their own awakening journeys.
The path wasn’t easy—there were moments of intense doubt, financial uncertainty, and questioning. But my heart knew this was right, and that knowing carried me through. My mother’s brush with mortality had taught me that life is too short for half-hearted living, and her recovery inspired me to help others find their own path to wholeness and purpose.
The Science Behind this Heart Awakening Practice
What both Jobs and I discovered through our distinct journeys, modern science is now confirming with remarkable precision: your heart is far more than a pump. Research at the HeartMath Institute has revealed that your heart contains over 40,000 neural cells—a “heart brain” that communicates directly with your mind and influences your perceptions, emotions, and consciousness.
When you engage in contemplative practices like Jobs’ morning question, you activate this heart-brain connection, creating what scientists call “coherence.” In this harmonious state, your decision-making becomes crystal clear, as if a fog has lifted from your mind. Your intuition, that subtle knowing that transcends logical thought, naturally sharpens and becomes more reliable. As you maintain this practice, you’ll notice your emotional resilience strengthening, allowing you to remain centered even amid life’s challenges. Perhaps most remarkably, you’ll experience a natural flow of creative insights, as if tapping into an infinite well of inspiration and possibility.
Your Daily Heart Awakening Practice
The practice I’m about to share with you is designed to awaken your heart’s deepest wisdom and transform your daily experience of life. It will be especially powerful for you if:
- You’re successful by external standards but feel empty inside
- You wake up dreading the day ahead
- You’re going through the motions in relationships or work
- You sense there’s something more meaningful waiting for you
- You feel disconnected from your true purpose
These feelings aren’t signs of failure—they’re your heart’s sacred invitation to a more authentic path. Here’s how to begin:
1) Create Sacred Space: Begin each morning before the world awakens, standing before your mirror in quiet solitude. Light a candle if you wish, letting its gentle flame remind you of your heart’s inner light. Create an atmosphere of reverence for this daily communion—this sacred moment between you and your deepest truth.
2) Connect with Your Heart: Place your hand over your heart center and take three deep, conscious breaths. Feel the steady rhythm beneath your palm—this ancient wisdom that has been beating within you since before your first breath. Let each inhale draw you deeper into presence, each exhale releasing the world’s distractions.
3) Ask the Question: Look directly into your own eyes in the mirror and speak aloud with intention:
“If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?”
Alternatively, you can also ask:
“If I knew I had just one year left to live, would I spend today doing what I’m about to do?”
Let the question penetrate beyond your thinking mind and sink into your heart space. Stay with it. Let it echo in the silence. Notice how your body responds—this is your heart’s wisdom speaking through sensation.
4) Listen Deeply: Allow whatever arises to emerge without judgment. Pay attention to the subtle signals—a flutter in your chest, a warming sensation, a gentle knowing. Your heart speaks not just in thoughts but in feelings, images, and intuitive flashes. Give yourself permission to receive its guidance in whatever form it appears.
5) Journal Your Insights: Keep a special journal dedicated to this practice. Record not just your answers but the quality of your experience—the sensations, the emotions, the revelations. This creates both a sacred record of your journey and a tangible way to track your heart’s evolving wisdom. Note any resistance or fears that surface; they too are teachers on this path.
6) Take Aligned Action: Let your day flow from this place of heart-centered awareness. When faced with decisions, return to the feeling tone of your morning practice. Choose actions that honor the wisdom received. Notice how life responds when you align with your heart’s guidance—the synchronicities, the openings, the subtle confirmations that you’re on your true path.
As you dedicate yourself to this practice, something miraculous begins to unfold…
Results You Can Expect Through this Heart Awakening Practice
Like a flower gradually opening its petals to the sun, your being will begin to transform through this daily heart communion. Here are the profound shifts you’ll witness:
Your Inner World:
- A deep sense of clarity emerges, illuminating your life’s true direction
- Anxiety and stress naturally dissolve into a state of heart-centered peace
- Your intuitive wisdom strengthens, offering clear guidance in moments of choice
- Creative inspiration flows naturally, as if from an infinite well within
Your Outer Experience:
- Relationships deepen into authentic, heart-to-heart connections
- Synchronicities appear with increasing frequency, confirming your aligned path
- Your presence becomes a natural catalyst for transformation in others
- Daily tasks transform into opportunities for sacred service
Your Spiritual Journey:
- A profound sense of purpose infuses each moment
- Your heart’s natural wisdom becomes your most trusted guide
- The gap between your inner truth and outer expression dissolves
- Life becomes a flowing dance of meaningful connections and inspired action
Yet, this morning practice is just the beginning of what’s possible…
The Sacred Rhythm of Heart-Directed Living
While this morning heart awakening practice can create profound transformation on its own, I invite you to deepen its power by bookending your day—opening with purpose and closing with gratitude. This combination will allow you to embody what heart intelligence pioneer Tej Steiner defines as being “Heart Directed” in his Five Ways of Being framework.
Think of it as creating a sacred container for your day: the morning mirror practice opens your heart to purpose and possibility, while an evening gratitude practice receives and integrates the day’s blessings. When you bookend your day this way, you create a powerful cycle of awakening that transforms not just moments, but your entire life journey.
Here’s a simple evening gratitude practice to complement your morning ritual:
1) Create Sacred Space: Find a quiet moment before sleep. Light a candle if you wish, creating an atmosphere of gentle reflection.
2) Connect with Your Heart: Place both hands over your heart and take three deep breaths, creating space for appreciation.
3) Recall Sacred Moments: Close your eyes and let three moments from your day arise naturally—moments that touched your heart or brought you joy.
4) Feel Your Gratitude: For each moment, let gratitude move through your body. Notice where you feel it—perhaps as warmth in your chest or a gentle smile.
5) Rest in Appreciation: Let this heart-full state be your final waking experience, carrying you into peaceful sleep.
When you combine this evening practice with your morning heart awakening, you create a powerful rhythm of purpose and appreciation that transforms your entire day.
Final Thoughts
While Steve Jobs transformed the world through technology, his most profound legacy might be this simple morning practice that kept him aligned with his heart’s wisdom. Not all of us are meant to change the world at the scale he did—but through these sacred practices of morning purpose and evening gratitude, you can transform your own life and touch the hearts of those closest to you in equally meaningful ways.
This Thanksgiving season offers the perfect moment to begin this journey of heart awakening. As you gather with loved ones in gratitude, consider how these two heart awakening practices might deepen your experience of life’s precious moments. Each sunrise becomes an opportunity to align with your purpose, each sunset a chance to receive the day’s blessings with an open heart.
Your heart, like Jobs’, holds wisdom beyond measure, waiting patiently for you to enter its sacred chambers. Through these daily heart awakening practices, you create space for its guidance to flow freely, transforming not only your own life but touching all those you encounter with its radiance. In these times of great change, the world needs your awakened heart to become a beacon of hope for everyone around you.
Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!
From my heart to yours,
P.S. If you feel called to embody these heart awakening practices, I invite you to join my free 21-Day Heart-Centered Meditation Experience. When you join, you’ll receive 21 heart awakening practices, specially crafted to amplify your morning and evening practices.
