PART 1
TICK TOCK

“Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, the hours are going by. The past increases, the future recedes. Possibilities decreasing, regrets mounting.”

— Haruki Murakami, Dance Dance Dance

“The past is always tense, the future perfect.”

— Zadie Smith

Life has a sting in the tail.

It's shorter than we expect.

And it races by while we're working out what's really important and what actually isn't.

As time roars past our ears we drift, deliberate, doubt, and take ourselves too seriously. Yet all the while we talk about what we would, could, and should do to make it better.

And then it's gone. So let's walk the talk.

Because there's never been a better time, or a more urgent time, to start doing the things you want to do.

After all, if not now, then when?

The speed of life

This book is about starting.

It's about shifting from a static state to an active one – a state where things happen because you do something. You may not always get it right, but you're gonna give it a damn good go!

It's about changing gears, moving direction, transforming what you do with your day, your week, your year, and taking control.

It's about deliberately putting one foot in front of the other and stepping forward with purpose instead of being carried along by the crowd.

There's never been a better time to start something. We are surrounded by opportunity at every turn; thanks to technology and new approaches to life and work, anything is possible.

But the downside to this world of opportunity is it can seduce us into being passive and drifting through life.

We find ourselves lost online, scrolling through videos, commenting on photos, updating statuses, Googling, and shopping. It's not that these things aren't fun; sometimes they're even worthwhile. But they trick you into feeling like you're “doing” – in large part thanks to the power of billions of dollars of marketing – yet leave you with a feeling that there's got to be more to life.

My motto:

“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.”

Pablo Picasso

I bet you've got an itch for something.

Life is short.

If you've got something you want to do … now is a good time to start.

Here are four reasons why …

The FIRST reason to start something now …

YOU CAN

The doors are wide open.

You can take some initiative, bring your ideas to life, and make your dreams come true in ways past generations could not have imagined. In our hyperconnected world, there's nothing stopping you.

1. Whatever you want to know is accessible – instantly.

   Want to: collect fountain pens from around the world, learn how to collect truffles, find someone to build a mobile phone app for you in another continent, retrain for a new profession, or research how to bicycle across the world? No problem. It's all at your fingertips.

2. You're just a click away from expert help.

   It has never been easier to connect with people who can help you. The soaring development of the internet has demolished barriers between you and the expertise you need. It empowers you to ask friends of friends (and friends of friends of friends) if they can offer advice, make introductions, and share experiences. Remember, we're all only six connections away from Kevin Bacon.

   You can take an online course to learn everything from the ukulele to creating your own online course.

3. Find your people.

   Whatever you want to start doing – working on a business or a social project, creating a piece of art, setting up a local artisan coffee shop – there are people all over the world who share your passion. Want to find people to trade antique fountain pens with? There are thousands of them. You don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to find these people either. In fact, you can pretty much do it all from your phone. You can support each other, learn from each other, do business with each other. And one day, you might even meet each other in real life.

4. You don't need to be rich to start something great.

   The cost of setting up many businesses, social endeavours, and other projects has fallen off a cliff. Most digital start‐ups don't even need an office. You can work from shared spaces, cafes, or home! This has, for example, had an impact on the venture capital world. The power used to be in the hands of the VCs because you needed money to set up a business and they would exact a heavy price for that cash. Now that it doesn't cost so much to start up, the power is with people who have the ideas and the “gumption” to make them happen.

   Got the gumption? Then let's get going!

5. You're already at the centre of the universe.

   And if in fact you are starting a business or collecting fountain pens from around the world, the global markets are wide open for business. Right from your own front room.

   The fat is in the frying pan. Get cooking.

The SECOND reason to start something now …

Unconventional is Conventional

The boat is being rocked.

The world looked pretty different ten years ago when the first edition of this book came out. At work, people had started to push against the boundaries of convention. Offices introduced a hotdesk or two, and our calendars began filling up with webinars. We were staying in touch with people on Facebook and retweeting celebrities.

Fast‐forward to 2021, and all that seems archaic. Partly thanks to the Covid‐19 pandemic, many of us work from home, or a cafe, or wherever we can; we can set up businesses in a matter of hours; we connect with thousands of people around the world with videos, photos, audio, and live streaming.

The conventions of society really are vanishing. Now you get to design your future.

1. Sixty years ago a man wouldn't go to work without a hat on; ten years ago we could wear jeans to the office on dress‐down Fridays. Now you can choose a beach background for your Zoom call while you're in your pyjamas. Who even knows if the colleague on your screen is wearing trousers … and the point is, who cares?!

   Society cares less about conformity than it used to, making it easier to swim against the current – easier to do something different, to challenge convention. If you want to give up your job and travel round the world, your friends and family might raise an eyebrow. Or they might just tell you how they always wanted to do the same thing themselves.

2. The concept of a job for life is long gone. The lines that used to confine a career from start to finish, from apprenticeship to grave, aren't imposed by anyone but you. It's not unusual to hold down three part‐time jobs at once or to shift jobs every couple of years. In response to the absence of job security, we have had to become more agile in our approach to work. Self‐employment is soaring. Many of us, myself included, have “portfolio” careers out of choice. In fact, I think our careers should be like a good book; when you come to the end of a great chapter, start a new one!
3. Since life expectancy is increasing, you are probably going to live a long time. As I write this, my wonderful, indomitable, 97‐year‐old Nan just came back from a holiday in Lanzarote! So, if you're going to be around a long time, you might as well do something you enjoy for as much of that time as possible.

The boat is already being rocked.

Some examples of how lifestyle, work, society, and leisure are changing.

The most entrepreneurial country in the West is built on failure

Of US companies, 10% go bust every year.

(Source: economist and writer, Paul Omerod)

People are managing themselves and themselves alone

Eighteen million people work in non‐employer businesses. Meaning they have no boss and they have no staff underneath them.

They just get up and do.

(Source: US Census Bureau)

(Source: Telework Trendlines 2009 by World at Work using data collected by the Dierenger Research Group)

People are escaping the cubicle on a daily basis – way before we started using the word pandemic outside of zombie films.

Before the coronavirus (Covid‐19) pandemic, 17% of U.S. employees worked from home 5 days or more per week; a share that increased to 44% during the pandemic.

(Source: “Remote work frequency before and after Covid‐19...