I was sitting in bed in the neurological ICU, the only conscious patient, when I decided it was time to leave an awesome job at Google to start an even more important adventure.  I recently met one of my new heroes, Terri Wingham, who needed a fresh meaningful start after surviving breast cancer, and now guides other survivors on international adventures that change the world.

It’s a story we hear again and again: a brush with mortality, a life-changing crisis, gives us clarity about what we should be doing.  Perhaps we get better access to our courage, certainly we feel urgency.  Some of the best business minds teach us that scarcity breeds clarity, and I think that applies to everything we do.

Make a date with your spouse or another loved one and talk to each other about what you might change if an unexpected crisis forced you to reconsider everything.  Maybe you can make the change now.