The average human life span is around 80 years. In that time, we can achieve many things – from getting a nice house, a collectable car, or reaching a million dollars, to raising good children, having our own business, or doing some good in the community. Most of this stuff is pretty regular, some good, some not so good – all pretty ordinary.

But for some of us ‘ordinary’ is simply not enough. There’s something missing.

what the hell is a magnum opus

All of the men and women that have gone down in history, to be remembered after they have died for hundreds of years or more, all have one thing in common.

They did something extraordinary.

Some did extraordinary things, some created them. How they did it or how they got there is another story, but nobody can say that Martin Luther King Jr. doesn’t deserve to be remembered for his commendable leadership and world-changing speech or Shakespeare would have been remembered today if it wasn’t for his plays and sonnets that have stood the test of time.

A Magnum opus is defined as ‘a great or the greatest work of art‘ a writer or artist can do. But you don’t have to be a writer to achieve something extraordinary. Any of us can do something, all we have to do is realize how much it matters to us that we do something world-changing.

What it could be depends on you. It doesn’t have to be a big change and it doesn’t have to be the best, or the brightest, or the most of anything. You don’t need to make a million bucks or become famous. It just has to mean a lot to you. But don’t underestimate yourself and set your sights too low either, it’s going to be your life’s work after all.

It can be a single object you can make or an aim you want to achieve, or a set of them, it’s up to you.

So in our little lives, if only we could choose just one great thing, to pour our effort, energy and most importantly, limited time into, maybe, just maybe, we can really do it.

Only you can decide what matters to you and how far you will go. Even if you don’t know right now, that’s okay, because if this all sounds pretty amazing to you then you’ve taken the first step. Now ask yourself:

What is your magnum opus?

Whatever you decide, stick with it, because your greatest work is waiting for you.