George Wong’s Cork Board

George Wong is Hello Kelly’s new bass player.  He has a cork board in his apartment, and I’m going to explain that to you.  But first …

–

Today I turned 25 years old.  I’m trying to just embrace my new age but the truth is that it IS a little stressful to hit a milestone like 25.  Why?  Because I’m such an ambitious guy and sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever find the time to do everything I want to do with my life …

When confronted with all of the things I want to get done in life, this is sometimes how I feel:

–

In the middle of George Wong’s apartment, there’s a cork board hanging on a wall.  On the cork board, George has Post-It notes with goals written on them, pinned to the board.  I read some of these goals and was taken with curiosity …

He said that he’s a dreamer and wants his life to mean something.  (I think we can all relate.)  He explained how most people never achieve their dreams because they feel too much like dreams: Vague, unattainable, unrealistic.  ”So,” he explained, “the cork board is where I translate my dreams into GOALS.”  Goals go on the cork board, he said, because you don’t erase goals & dreams – and you can’t erase cork board.  Just put stuff up and take it down.

Some of George’s goals were: “Visit all the continents”, “Write a book” and “Go on tour”.  I consider it an honour that George was able to take that last goal off the board after touring with Hello Kelly.

Beside the cork board, there’s also a dry erase board.  This one can be erased and drawn over because, let’s face it, the path to our goals will evolve and change over time.  That’s where the brainstorming happens.  The ideas.  That “what-ifs”.

So the planning (dry erase board) gets you closer to yours goals (cork board) which is how you measure your dreams.

George is a smart guy.  One of his goals is to write a book … and I think he should write a book about his cork board.

–

Today, on my 25th birthday, I’ve been thinking about my own figurative cork board.  I came up with some Post-Its of my own … Quite a few actually, but I’ve narrowed it down to 5 (in no particular order) for the sake of this blog post.

5. Be part of a sold out tour.

4. Be a writer on a TV show for a season.

3. Publish a book.

2. Be a motivational “speaker”. ( … more on this later.)

1. Learn sign language.

–

Will my life be a failure if I don’t take all of these Post-Its off of my cork board before I die?  Of course not.  I’m sure I’ll get a wife and kids some day and my priorities will change.  And maybe new goals will come up along the journey … I don’t think it’s a bad thing to dream so much that your cork board gets too small …

I’ll have to double check with George on this but I’m pretty sure the point isn’t how many Post-Its you put up … but how many you manage to pull down before you bite the dust.

–

My girlfriend Beth always encourages me to remember what I’ve accomplished instead of getting down on what I haven’t accomplished.  At 25, I’ve already done some crazy cool things: Recorded and released a bunch of music, toured all across North America, attended university, written two TV pilots and met a lot of great friends along the way.  And I am proud of all that.

But at 25, I’m not going to stop.  And while I’m on the topic, I don’t think anybody should stop.  A couple years ago, my dad started the company he’s always talked about starting.  Six years ago, after talking about being a teacher for years and years, my mom put in the work and got to be one.  In that movie Up in the Air … that one guy gets fired and … doesn’t he become a chef or something?

Anyway … You get the point.

What do your Post-Its say?  If you’re over 25, what can I expect this year?

–

francy