Watching the Countdown Clock: Living with Intention

How do you keep track of time?

We had a town hall at my corporate job this week. I’ve never found “town halls” at work to be nearly as charming or interesting as the original ones must’ve been back in the 17th century—neighbors debating taxes and sheep, not executives debating synergy and budget variances.

Still, every once in a while, one turns out to be worth the time. This one was. I actually left inspired—which, let’s be honest, is not the usual outcome, no matter how hard they try.

The meeting opened with a story about a company-sponsored service trip to a developing country. A dozen employees volunteered to do everything from mucking out cattle pens to performing life-changing surgeries in an impoverished community. Every photo of the crew and community members was a postcard of joy—mud-splattered smiles, tired eyes, proud hearts. I’ve always believed there’s no such thing as a truly selfless act; doing good always feels good. This story proved my theory right again.

But that wasn’t the most inspiring part.

Next came the somber news of a colleague who passed away in what should have been the prime of his life. We heard how he led with kindness, lived with purpose, and built community through art and culture. It was moving and humbling.

Still, that wasn’t the most inspiring part either.

The final speaker was a senior leader—a national big deal, known for driving innovation in an industry that doesn’t always welcome it. What stuck with me wasn’t his business update. It was his countdown clock.

Yes, an actual clock that displays the number of days he has left to live. He set it based on his best guess of when he’ll die—morbid math, I know—and recently extended his expiration date from age 70 to 85 (at his wife’s request).

This isn’t just some weird flex. The man’s survived a childhood illness, a plane crash, and cancer. So maybe he’s earned the right to track his time more carefully than most of us do.

The point, of course, is that the clock reminds him—and now me—that life is short. Shorter than we think. And the time we keep waiting for to start that project, say those words, or make that change? It’s not coming.

None of us are getting more time.

So maybe we don’t need a digital countdown clock on our desks reminding us the value of living with intention. Maybe we just need the occasional nudge to stop wasting perfectly good heartbeats. Go do the thing—paint the wall pink, quit the job, start the blog, learn to juggle flaming torches (preferably outdoors). Life’s not waiting for us to find more time. The clock’s running...might as well dance with the ticking.