What If We Have 2 Years Remaining?

Last Thursday, I learned that one of my relatives was diagnosed with cancer. Doctors say he has 2 years left to live.

That news was heavy on my mind last week as I drove my parent to routine medical appointments. I thought about the value of time. If I knew I had only two years left to live, how would I live my life differently?

Certain things in life would just be totally unimportant.

Much of the small stuff that we worry about each day would just fade away into the background.

With or without a medical prognosis, the reality is that none of us truly know how much time we have left.

YOLO?

How do different people prioritize what’s worthy of their limited time?

I get to speak with many amazing people about their careers and their lives. Here are a few examples of people whose use of their newfound time has inspired me this week (not their real names):

• Jack quit his corporate executive role at a tech company in order to purchase and own an existing small local niche home remodeling business. He seemed to be happier now with less stress and less business travel. He spends more time with his wife and daughters now along with leisure travel.
• Kirk was laid off from his contractor role at a big tech company, just a few months after his parent passed away. He spends his time now as a freelancer while volunteering at his church and enjoying hobbies with his wife.
• Lana was forced out of her company apparently by a toxic boss. With her newfound time now in her retirement status, she’s enjoying her grandchildren and actively supporting community causes.
• Mack announced quitting his company to launch his own AI-enabled tech startup. As I see him seek and embrace counsel from trusted advisors, I’m sure that he will get good momentum on his venture. I expect he’ll be able to spend more time and mental presence with his wife and son.

What's in common with all these four people is that they exchanged their time working in a traditional role in a big company for a different role that gave more time for family. Some of them left not by their own choice, but still stayed upbeat. In all cases, the mental pressures and stresses from a corporate environment go away eventually.

Why My Path

As I reflect back on my own story, I’m grateful that I have the opportunity now to coach and mentor others. The topics would be on data science careers, leadership, entrepreneurship, AI, and life wisdom. If you were to teach others too, what would you teach?

If I knew I had only two years left to live, I would still continue on this same path, but possibly accelerate writing and publishing books and videos to teach and encourage more people. I would spend more time with family while serving out my unique value proposition:

For sure, I would not want to spend my remaining life compiling weekly corporate team status reports so my boss can compile for his or her boss. Life is too valuable.

If You're Ready To Make A Change...

Contact me for private career or business coaching. If you prefer a group setting, we also have a space left for one more person in the next cohort for Data Leaders Community of Practice starting May 31. Schedule a 15-minute meeting with me to learn more about the coaching options to help you reach your goals.

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Jimmy Wong Coach, speaker, and entrepreneur enabling people to thrive in the age of AI. Data science leader with 12 years experience at the LinkedIn company and 27 years in the industry. Visit aijimmy.com​ ​​​​​​

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