INNOVATORS CAN SEIZE THE DAY AS SOCIETY CHANGES THE VOICE

TIME to seize the day!

You’ve heard the old saying: carpe diem! Seize the day! Films, songs and many poems express this sentiment — but is it true?

Two thousand years ago, the Roman poet Horace first used the phrase which loosely translated means “pluck the day”. We tend to think of the phrase “seize the day” as urging everyone to live only for the moment — but apparently that’s not what it meant to the original poet. This ode tells us that nobody can predict the future — so we should do all we can today, right now, to make our future better. It does not recommend ignoring the future and living only in the immediate present.

It is a reminder that time slips away, and wisely cautions us to plan for the future — by seizing the present and having trust in tomorrow. We have one life to live and we should make the most of it, seizing special moments and opportunities that take the future into consideration.

However this sage counsel has turned into a slogan. The modern take on seize the day says we have one life to live, and that we should make the most of it — with little regard for the future. Life is viewed as fleeting. You’re only young once. Live without regrets, and don’t put off happiness or fulfilment. Don’t regret what you’ve left undone — instead, experience everything you can and enjoy it today. This interpretation is the exact opposite of the original ode.

While we grapple with the significant issues surrounding COVID-19 and the impact on our lives, our industries and economy, it also presents new opportunities to consider what it means for our future and how we adapt. It is at this moment that we need to open our eyes wide to the abundant opportunities that are emerging.

We can see how Zoom and other online platforms have changed how quickly everyone has adapted to digital communication and how other tech companies have developed ways for us to continue our work, our meetings and to stay connected to each other. Shares in Afterpay have skyrocketed, with new methods of payment introduced to enable retail therapy to flourish amid this health crisis. Zoom and Afterpay were unheard of prior to COVID-19 but have become household names.

Many other previously unknown companies have had unanticipated growth as a consequence of the pandemic, highlighting that the world is changing at a rapid pace and from this, new global companies will emerge and new brands will become household names.

These companies seized the moment to meet an urgent need, with the future in mind.

Every industry is looking at how its business model has been forced to adapt to survive and rethink. And while there will be an impact on human capital, it opens up the opportunity for innovative business ideas to flourish in response to human behaviour and our needs. And while many existing jobs will disappear, it is inevitable that new and different jobs will be created.

There will be new horizons and the gateway to a bright new future, with an open mind and a new perspective on what seize the day really means.

And maybe in 10 years, when we look at this turning point of the 2020s, it will pinpoint the unveiling of new frontiers for fledgling companies busily responding to the needs of individuals, businesses and communities with new brands that have become familiar household names. Medical advancements will be made, more funds allocated for research and development, a new approach to protecting our environment and hopefully a better aged-care solution. Just a few areas that will undoubtedly change in the next decade.

Fascinating times with endless scope for quick thinkers, innovators and for Gold Coast a golden opportunity to emerge as the most desired location in Australia from which many new ideas and opportunities will hopefully flourish.