There’s No “Later.” Just Now

I’m writing this after waking up to the stunning news of Chadwick Boseman’s death at only 43 years old. Beyond his tremendous skill as an actor, what I found most inspiring about his story is that he did his most acclaimed work not in the best of circumstances, not when everything was going well, but while he struggled with cancer. 

That really puts into perspective just how much we can accomplish even in the face of huge challenges. 

But the biggest thing I take away from his story is that it’s possible to have our biggest professional wins today—and not be around to cherish them tomorrow. Hence, we better make sure the work required to achieve our professional wins is itself worth cherishing.

The deferred life plan in which we achieve freedom and enjoyment in our retirement years is a risky proposition. I first realized this when a mentor was diagnosed with a serious medical condition shortly after he retired. There’s nothing promised about tomorrow. 

Boseman’s unfortunate passing made me reflect on other times in which death has driven my plans. 

In fact, it was during my best friend’s mother’s funeral six years ago that I decided to close my last business, which hadn’t been working for some time. Thinking about death made me intensely focus on whether I was spending my time on things that would make an impact. 

The other decision I made that day was to propose to my wife. I thought, “if you’re going to do it, just do it.” And I called her that night to “inform” her of my plan. 

Fast forward to late last year, something similar happened. I had a vague sense that I wanted to do something different with my career. But I was still spending time thinking about what that new chapter could be—the idea still didn’t have a form.

Then at a wedding, a friend told me, “I always had faith that you could crush it at whatever you did.” That was hugely motivating for me.  

Shortly after, that friend announced that he was diagnosed with a late-stage cancer. 

And just a few weeks later, Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crashed. 

Roughly two minutes into the shock of hearing that news, I committed myself to leaving my job. I thought, “if you’re going to do it, just do it.”

Today, when I’m asked to describe Thrive Street (my coaching and consulting practice), the response sometimes comes out as “avoid not having a job for as long as possible” or “do interesting stuff with interesting people.”

Turns out, that’s incredibly vague and not helpful to the person asking. The first line of my actual strategic plan—which mostly exists just to satisfy my wife that I’m not being totally foolish—is similarly vague. “Be generous, and do good work.”

I recently realized that the reason why my answer was so vague was that I was actually describing my life plan, not my business plan. 

It’s the life plan that says to focus on having impact and having control of my time. And it’s the life plan that says to only do things that are fun. As I told my own coach: if it feels like a slog, I might as well just have a regular job that pays me every other week.

And that orientation is driven by having seen others experience death and illness and by the realization that there’s nothing promised about the future. 

There’s no later, just now. That’s the real strategic plan.

Challenge Question

What in your life are you planning to do “later”? What’s stopping you from doing it now?