The Only Clock That Matters

In the professional world, we are obsessed with time... How much time until my next meeting? How many days until my deadline? What's the best book on saving time? In reality, these are all examples of people looking at the wrong clock.

The only clock that matters is the one that ticks for YOU alone. It's the beating of your heart, and it should remind you to use every ounce of your talents. Understanding this can change the course of your career and life.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is living proof of what happens when you listen to the clock that matters. The 35-year-old creator and star of the Broadway musical, In the Heights, spoke last weekend at the Wesleyan University commencement. In his sophomore year at Wesleyan, he wrote and staged In the Heights. He then put the script in a drawer for two years, until he graduated. Eight years later, his "college show" made it to Broadway.

Miranda knows a bit about taking your shot in life.

At Wesleyan, he shared memories of his own commencement ceremony, "Most of all, I remember the sound of two distinct clocks in my head. One is super fast, whirring. T-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t."

The first clock, he said, was the last of his college moments counting down. But it's the other clock that mattered.

"The other clock is in the distance, but it’s slower and it’s booming: that’s the sound of the rest of your life, and what you’re going to do with it in the time you have on this earth. Some of you hear this clock constantly. You wake up in cold sweats at the thought of it. Some of you are utterly oblivious to it, God bless you. Guess what? It’s ticking whether you hear it or not."

Many do not hear it, and instead are obsessed with time in the most trivial sense possible. Looking at your watch is a poor substitute for looking into your heart. There's no sense in saving time unless you put it to good use. 

I'd like to suggest that once every day you stop and put your hand over your heart. Ask yourself whether you are pursuing your highest possible purpose.

I recognize you may feel this is a luxury you can't afford. You have obligations, bills to pay, harsh realities to face. 

And yet, the people like Miranda, the ones who take really big shots in life, are willing to take risks. He just wrote a new musical called Hamilton, which is opening on Broadway this summer.

Miranda revealed that his new musical is also structured around the only clock that matters. "The engine of my new musical is the fact that Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr both hear that ticking clock of mortality at a very young age."

At the end of his freshman year, Miranda heard that clock. Here's how he felt at school in Connecticut, while, "Back home in New York, my father quits the not-for-profit Latino organization he founded to make money in the private sector.

"My mother, a psychologist, doubles down on her workload and begins seeing patients seven days a week. My education is their second mortgage. And they are killing themselves to afford it.

"I am keenly aware of their sacrifice and the tiny clock gets louder. Tick tick tick tick tick tick. I am not throwing away my shot…."

Don't throw away your shot.

Don't let your calendar or watch or To Do list distract you from the only clock that matters.

Expect more of yourself. Expect more of life. Take your shot.

Miranda's talk is probably the best commencement speech you'll ever hear... he spends half the time rapping lyrics from his new show. The first four minutes are pretty specific to Wesleyan, but be sure to watch from the 4:30 mark on. 

 Bruce Kasanoff is a ghostwriter for entrepreneurs. Learn more at Kasanoff.com. He is the author of How to Self-Promote without Being a Jerk, which highlights the power of helping others before you help yourself.