It’s kind of sad that after 21 there’s a severe lack of milestones to look forward to. When you’re a child there’s so much ahead. First day of school, last day of school, turning 16, first kiss, driving, graduating, first job and more importantly first paycheck, voting and then BOOM – you’re 21 years old! Finally old enough to buy a drink (legally anyway). But now what? What do you have to look forward to? All the preset milestones have been reached. Nothing happens at 30. Nothing at 40, except black balloons and an “Over the Hill” cake from your 35 year old friends. After 21, life isn’t as preset. Things happen when we’re ill prepared or happen too late. The lack of preset milestones challenges us to set our own milestones in life and in business. If we don’t have milestones set in place we hope to achieve, how do we know we’re traveling at the right pace? I vaguely remember the anticipation of turning 21 but the important part is that I DO remember waiting, wanting and looking forward to it. That’s what milestones do for you. They give you focus and energy. They are that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. And as we encounter roadblocks along the way that are sure to be there, how we handle them to regain our path is just as important as achieving the end result. No one really knows when they’ll get promoted or get married or have kids. Those are certainly all milestones to be proud, but hard to predict when they will happen. But, if we set milestones for when we’d LIKE those things to happen and then strive to reach them, chances are we’ll come pretty close. We can’t just quit looking forward to things after 21, that’s when life really begins to kick in. See it, do it! Side note: While my mind still thinks I can do everything I could at 21, my body begs to differ. They say it’s not the years in your life, but the life in your years. So, I have now begun to bestow my life rich 41 years of wisdom upon all the young people I know. I urge them to fear not, there is life after 21! And 30 to 41 has been pretty awesome so far!

Chris Hoffman

Viamark Advertising – Asheville, NC