Today I asked myself, what do I want to have achieved in life by the time I’m 50?

I wrote down all the major things I would be proud to have achieved by then.

I looked at my list and realised that I could quite comfortably take 30 years to achieve all those things, so I crossed out 50 and wrote 40.

20 years to achieve all those goals. Completely doable. So I crossed out 40 and wrote 30.

10 years to achieve all those goals. Now that’s exciting!

Unless you know where you’re going, you might end up someplace different. What will your memoirs say?

When kids are in diapers, their parents enroll them into primary school. If all goes right, the right primary school could mean the right high school.

No room for error though, so the kids are put in piano, Japanese, speech and drama, voice, painting, soccer, violin, tennis, dancing and deportment classes.

They got in? Great job!

Right, high school time. Marching band, United Nations community-building initiatives, maths club, speaking competitions, official school photographer, Physics Olympiads preparations, cheerleading, science fairs, bake fairs, school plays, volunteer work, president of the Student Representatives, school magazine editor and as many competitions as you can enter. Study a couple of hours each day. Graduate valedictorian. Have they done enough to get into a good university??

They got in? Great job!

…

Childhood is now a protracted process of university entrance. The most successful undergrads go on and do their masters. The most successful masters students go on to do their PhD. The most successful PhD students go on to become university professors.

When you leave someone after an interaction, do you leave them present to their own greatness? Do you leave them feeling completely validated, appreciated and respected? Even if they’ve just made (what you deem to be) an unwise decision for your project? Asked (what you think is) a really silly question? Said something really inappropriate?

What sticks with someone isn’t, “how great were they at the start when they wanted something from me/ were judging me to see if I was an appropriate contact to hold on to”, it’s “how great were they after they got it/ didn’t get it/ found out more about me”.

It’s not how you play the game of ‘first impressions’ anymore. In the world of the Internet, Big Brother and the constant bombardment of twitter updates, Facebook wall posts, SMSs and Skype, you’re always giving an impression.

Be on your best behaviour. Whatever you do there is always someone watching, you are always teaching, and someone is always learning.

When are you going to apply for that grant?
When are you going to start your assignment?
When are you going to start your advertising campaign?
When are you going to start studying for your exam?
When are you going to quit your crummy job and go out and apply for your dream job?

When are you going to start doing things now, like your timetable says, instead of rescheduling it?
When are you going to call your mother?
When are you going to call your old piano teacher?
When are you going to tell your friends all the things you love about them?

When are you going to apologise to your enemy, even if it wasn’t your fault?
When are you going to give up being right?
When are you going to let go and move on?
When are you going to sign up for that salsa class?

When are you going to start learning Chinese?
When are you going to learn how to cook French food?
When are you going to start your bucket list?
When are you going to start your company?

When are you going to write your book?
When are you going to start eating healthily?
When are you going to start training for your marathon?
When are you going to pay off all your debts?

When are you going to do the things that have been in your to-do list for 3 months?
When are you going to read War and Peace?
When are you going to organise your big party?
When are you going to go to the Great Barrier Reef?

There is a lack of urgency in life. We say we want to scale the world and achieve all our dreams, but we somehow never get around to it. We keep putting stuff off until our assignment is due that afternoon, the application submission date is tomorrow, someone else creates an opportunity for us, or we are about to die.

When? Now.

I was at West End watching “Dirty Dancing” the other night.

In the foyer, there were t-shirts embossed with, “I carried a watermelon”, and “No one puts Baby in the corner”.

Inside the theatre, before Baby said, “I carried a watermelon”, whispers permeated the theatre. After she said it, the crowd cheered. While Johnny strolled up to Baby to ask her to dance the last dance with him, people wolf-whistled in anticipation of his next line, “No one puts Baby in the corner”, which was met with thunderous applause.

What kind of slogans are you creating for your company? The type that gets people whispering, whistling and stamping their feet in appreciation? The type that you emboss on t-shirts and have people anticipating? Don’t hide your baby in the corner - bring it out and share with the world the unique cheekiness, boldness, and difference that is your company. Maybe you’ll create something worth talking about 22 years later…