On Entrepreneur Before 25, I always ask the guest this one question that I call our finale question:
Look 30 years into the future, now what areas would your older self wish you would’ve spend more time focusing on right now in the present moment?
Perspective shifting questions are perhaps my favorite form of questions. They have the power to elevate us above our current situation and see things as they should be with an objective stance. This thirty-year perspective question has the power to give you immediate clarity about something that you could have perhaps been struggling with for a long time.
Over the dozens on dozens of episodes where I’ve asked this question, the answers usually follow a similar pattern. Sure, there are times when someone says something completely out of the blue. But I have found the common pattern is very interesting. It’s a pattern that I think proves the pretty obvious but incredible point that- at the end of the day, fulfillment is what we all desire and seek the most.
What young entrepreneurs say they will regret in 30 years:
“I will have wished I would have prioritized spending more time with my friends and family”
This is perhaps the most common answer. There’s usually a long pause in which the guest admits on air that they have been neglecting the most important asset in their life- relationships.
Relationships are the most important commodity in life. I know that’s a common saying, but I really want you to consider this for a moment. Relationships are the foundation of love, life and also business. The world revolves around relationships. Who are we and what are we if we have no one to share and build life with?
Yet, it’s so easy to put relationships on the back-burner because we are too busy working. Guests on EB25 often admit to neglecting this aspecting and knowing that they will look back in thirty years wishing they hadn’t.
On a personal level for me when making decisions- I ask myself this 30 year questions ALL THE TIME. If I am invited to spend a weekend with my family but have a massive todo list for the businesses, I zoom out to 30 years and ask myself what will be the most meaningful, memorable and fulfilling. What will I remember in 30 years? Crossing off that to-do list? Or the perhaps life-long memories I will make with my family that weekend. The answer is obvious.
“I will have wished I would have created more time for FUN.”
It’s easy to forget the mindset and objective most of us have going into entrepreneurship when we’re first starting our entrepreneurial journey. Mosts of us start our own business so we can have more freedom. Yet, before we know it and if we aren’t careful, we can easily become slaves to our business. We can even get to the extent where we don’t even have time to spend the money we make because we are too busy letting our business run us instead of us running our business.
Guests often say, “I know this sounds super simple, but I think 30 years from now I will have wished I would’ve created more time to just have fun.” They admit that they will probably look back and said they worked too much.
It’s a good thing to love what you do, but just like everything, we must find the balance. The yin and yang with what we do. Never forgetting why started doing what we are and where our focus should be. Even if it’s as simple as creating more time to have fun in life.
“I will have wished I would have prioritized my health more”
Health is something we take for granted until we don’t have it. Luckily, when we are young, our bodies can bounce back better. But what about when we get older and didn’t realize soon enough? The bounce back isn’t as easy.
What is the fad of “team-no-sleep” and the “hustle until you drop” affect going to look like on the millennial generation ten years from now? I’ve met some older millennials, and let me tell you, it’s not pretty and they fully admit they wish they would have prioritized their health sooner.
We know this, but it’s another to act on it- if we’re not 100%, we can’t give 100% to any other area of our lives. In fact, most of us don’t even know what it’s like to feel 100%.
A lot of my guests share that they know in thirty years they will be seeing the effect of their actions now when it comes to how they’re neglecting their health. They realize that it’s not a good plan to neglect their nutrition, physical activity and sleep because that isn’t a long term solution. We must run the marathon in life, not just the race.
Perspective is a powerful thing. It can cause us to see things in a whole new light to the extent of creating the desire to change. These are the top answers that young entrepreneurs on EB25 share they will regret in 30 years if they don’t change something now.
Now it’s your turn to ask yourself this question- Look thirty years into the future, now what areas would your older self wish you would’ve spend more time focusing on right now in the present moment?
What answers are you finding your older and wiser self giving you? Are you going to listen and start taking action now?
The good news is, we can change this. You are not yet 30 years into the future. You can focus on these things NOW and start living a life with no regrets in the present, or the future.
