Kevin Kelly shares this bit of advice from his friend:
My friend Stewart Brand, who is now 69, has been arranging his life in blocks of 5 years. Five years is what he says any project worth doing will take. From moment of inception to the last good-riddance, a book, a campaign, a new job, a start-up will take 5 years to play through. So, he asks himself, how many 5 years do I have left? He can count them on one hand even if he is lucky. So this clarifies his choices. If he has less than 5 big things he can do, what will they be?
Maybe I work on lamer projects, but I’d say five years might be a little long. I’d go with three. Still, I like the idea, and five is easier to count. Like if you have 15 years left, you only have time for three projects.
Even counting at three years per project, I still only have time for two, maybe three if I force it, projects left. What will they be?
Either way, better get busy.
