I came across this proverb once again this week, while listening in to a webinar on Career Management. I find it very inspirational – both for self-motivation and for motivating my coachees.

Of course, you can’t change the past. Being a Disneyphile I can’t help quoting from the Lion King here. In one scene, Simba is moping about the past, and Rafiki hits him over the head with his stick…

Simba: Ow! Jeez, what was that for? 

Rafiki: It doesn’t matter. It’s in the past. 

Simba: Yeah, but it still hurts. 

Rafiki: Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or… learn from it. 

Should that make us hopeless? NO – if the past sets the conditions and probability of success in the future, it is indeed great news!  Because in your present lies the past of your future. 

In day-to-day life, we have a list of wishes, wants and needs and this may include places to see, skills to learn or accomplish etc. We may have even attempted to do or achieve these at different points in time but given it up for lack of time, opportunity etc. As we get busy with our professional lives, we often tend to lose touch with our passions. Even more, After a while, we start getting defined by the job we have, the employer we work for.

When I left Disney in 2016, rather than go with the safe option of taking up another corporate role, I decided to work full-time on my passion for helping people and organisations fulfil their potential and aspirations; and the early signs are good. A friend of mine has begun to more seriously pursue his twin passions of playing the guitar and bird-watching, even as he continues in his successful corporate career.

That is the essence of the quote – it is never too late to do what you have wanted to do, and most things can usually still be done now in some form or to some extent, even if you think the time for it has passed. And this is regardless of whether you are a corporate high flyer or not.

Grab hold of your future and work towards getting what you want. Start today!