Isn’t it strange? Sometimes you are thinking of something, then your eye drifts over the NetVibes feeds and a post leaps up to reinforce what was on your mind just before your eyes landed on the text. Or else you purposely visit one of your regular sources, and find that Hugh MacLeod has again posted something inspirational.
I am part of a generation of restless 40-somethings. The first to be constantly reinvent itself. To have had multiple careers, lived in different countries, and moved seamlessly from fixed term jobs to entrepeneurship and back to short term assignments. We consciously, regularly, push the ship of our lives into different directions. Looking to spread ourselves over many things. After the best part of a year working on a large project, I again feel the need to diversify. Tomorrow I will kickstart a telecoms research project. I’m quietly exploring a start-up with two partner companies. And I’m toying with the idea of further study. A perennial item, which surfaces every time I raise my head above the barricade of whatever I’m doing. I want to explore all of these things, right now. Some will work, some will remain on the drawing board. The important thing is to channel my restless energy positively. Creatively. Restlessness works.
About five weeks ago, I connected a friend of mine in Rio, a former Andersen Consultant, with a former partner, the CEO of a well-funded technology start-up with offices in London and Malta. Three conference calls later, both parties took a big leap of faith, and she has just moved from Rio to London to work on Entropay’s new marketing programs. She’s 45. She believes most times we make our own luck, but there is always a time when you can move things quickly, and other times when you need to wait for the right time. She believes that no experience is wasted.
Another close friend Joe, an ISO process specialist, is battling with a life-threatening disease in hospital. When we meet, in his ward at St Luke’s, we now talk about the really important stuff. Two months ago, I told him his business model needed to be readdressed. We were exploring creating a new vehicle together when his illness struck. I know we still will. But this temporary hiccup, in his life, is forcing us both again to take stock. Of what is important. Of how to put our time to better use. And how to do something meaningful.
That’s all that matters, right now.
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