Recently I received an e-mail from a college student who is considering applying to my business school alma mater, Stanford. She asked me some very thought-provoking questions. There was one question to which I immediately knew the answer.
The question was: If you could start all over, what would you do different in your career? The answer was: Have left my previous career track of hospital executive and started Values Coach ten years sooner than I did.
That prompted me to ask myself this question: What would be my response to that question ten years from now, and what can I proactively do to reduce any future regret factor, beginning now? It was surprising, actually, how quickly the answer to that question popped into my mind.
Having the answer to the question, I also knew the actions I can take right now, rather than waiting ten years to start on them. This morning I made several “someday I’m going to…” phone calls. It’s surprising how easy it is, really, when you know that the “you” you will become is looking over your shoulder!
Try this: Have an imaginary conversation with the person you will be in ten years. Ask the “you” of tomorrow what that person would like to see the “you” of today do differently. You will hear the answer. It might be to turn off the television and go to the gym, or to cancel the Las Vegas vacation and instead travel to the country of your ancestors. The answer you hear will almost certainly involve spending less money now so that the future “you” can afford to do all those things that you’ve been promising yourself to do “someday.”
Getting to know the person that you will be in ten years, and working out to become that person’s best friend, can be a profoundly life-changing experience.
Many years ago the band Steppenwolf did a song which included the lines: “You can find a way to change today, you don’t have to wait till then, it’s never too late to start all over again.”
That’s true, it is never too late to start all over again. But you can never start all over again at the beginning, so you might as well begin starting all over again today.
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Joe Tye is America’s Values Coach. He is also the author of several books and audio programs on personal, career, and business success, and a popular motivational speaker. Visit www.JoeTye.com
-what are some things you would have done sooner — and why are you waiting?
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