2010 Goals | Hitch: Connecting Marketing Innovators

I spent part of the day planning my business goals for 2010. It’s one of the things I love about this time of year. Well, that and the fact that I feel completely justified in having hot cocoa in the middle of the day.

For me, goal planning is as much about looking back as it is looking forward. Because this year also closes a decade, I looked back even further. Reflecting on all I’ve accomplished and planning for all the things I still want to get done.

Goal setting turned to reminiscing and I was reminded of the words of a friend from many years ago. He was a very successful business owner, and I looked up to him tremendously as, at the time, I looked forward to what my life could become.

I’ve had (and continue to have) a lot of great mentors, coaches and teachers in my life, but this person was something special. To begin with, he was in his mid seventies and at the time, I was in my mid twenties. (I’m now in my forties.) Something he said to me way back when keeps coming back to me today, so I thought I’d share it with my you:

-When you’re in your twenties, you don’t know sh*t. You think you do, but really…you’re clueless.

-When you’re in your thirties, you know some things, but no one else thinks you do.

-In your forties, you get a little gray in your temples, people start paying attention to what you say. Suddenly they know you know something.

-Your fifties, everybody agrees, you know something. Even you.

-Then come your sixties, “suddenly” you’re an expert. Everyone wants to know what you think. But you couldn’t care less, you’re more interested in having a life. You’re headed in a new direction.