Here's Steve Jobs delivering his commencement speech to the graduates of Stanford University in 2005. In it he talks about getting fired from Apple in 1985, life & death.

I like the part where he mentioned about death and how can use it to force us to do things in regardless of fear. We can do that by thinking that today could be our last day and we have to do it before it's too late.

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the best tool I have ever encountered to ever make the big choices in life"

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose"

That lose = fear of embarassment of failure, pride, external expectations