Dr. BJ Miller Part 2: How to Prepare for Death

How can you prepare for death? While it’s hard to live every day like it’s your last, try and keep regrets to a minimum, advises Dr. BJ Miller, a palliative care physician and a leading voice reframing society's discourse on the field of death and dying. In this episode, BJ discusses the practical steps you can take to prepare for death, and why compassion can make you a better caregiver.

Key takeaways:
How to prepare for death
Start saving money for death
Live a life where you've minimized your regrets
How to be a better caregiver

Show Notes

How can you prepare for death? While it’s hard to live every day like it’s your last, try and keep regrets to a minimum, advises Dr. BJ Miller, a palliative care physician and a leading voice reframing society's discourse on the field of death and dying. 

“When you love someone, tell them, act on it. When you want to learn something, go learn it, don't continually put things off. That sort of deferred gratification that we do in the name of discipline can catch up with us in a harsh way.”

In this episode of Into The Magic Shop, BJ answers questions from the audience about how to prepare for death: from saving money for death, to wrapping your head around it’s the end of your life - but not life itself. He also discusses why compassion can make you a better caregiver, and how to get involved in the field of palliative care when you don’t have a medical background. 

“To me, design thinking is if we see illness and death as an experience, well, then we get to create for it and condition it… and your mission, your work, is to be a force in this world that helps people suffer less and love more.”

To find out more, download and listen today.

On today’s podcast:

• How to prepare for death
• Start saving money for death
• Live a life where you've minimized your regrets
• How to be a better caregiver

Links:

• TED talk - What Really Matters at the End of Life
• Book - A Beginner's Guide to the End

What is Into the Magic Shop?

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, many were overwhelmed with stress, anxiety and depression. While this epidemic of stress has been growing over the past decade, it has been exacerbated by the pandemic and the divisive nature of political discourse. As a result, many people feel disconnected, inauthentic, and unhappy, while questioning the source of their unhappiness when they presumably have “everything”—an absence of compassion, for oneself and others, is often the source of the problem.

Many of us don’t understand the nature of self-compassion nor the power of compassion to improve our lives and alleviate our suffering. By entering the “Magic Shop”, Jim will share his wisdom and introduce a variety of techniques to change the course of one’s life and share his own lessons learned through the exchange of untold stories of his guests. He will interview authors and experts in the fields of philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, spirituality and religion, as well as individuals with unique points of view. He will also engage his listeners by answering their questions and also at times interview listeners who are willing to share their own stories of challenge and hardship.