“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
I will work long hours, endure stress, and use PowerPoint... lots of PowerPoint. I'll put up with that and more if I can have impact. I'll choose the bloodshot eyes and caffeine twitch that come from sleep deprivation if my efforts create change. In the short term the pursuit of impact means trying to be the type of consultant that delivers insight, honesty, and value to clients. Over time it means using my training to help improve the lives of people who cannot afford my billing rate, but whose needs are so much more significant. I'll apply the same tenacity to having impact in the lives of my family and friends.

After reading the above, you might conclude that I'm doomed to suffer an early nervous breakdown from a life of all work and no play. The truth is that I savor my time watching a game at Yankee Stadium, reading The New York Times in Central Park, or having a leisurely dinner more when I feel intellectually challenged. I expect to spend much of my life figuring out the right balance between work and play, and enjoying both. I don't expect to get the balance quite right, but I'll try.

— Marc Ricks