Christopher S. Penn – Marketing AI Keynote Speaker

In your last hour, what would you write?

—

by

Christopher S Penn
in
Warning: this content is older than 365 days. It may be out of date and no longer relevant.

World Trade Center Sunrise
I took this photo across the street from Ground Zero earlier this year.

Here’s the last piece I’ll post on September 11 for now.

WTC2, the South Tower of the World Trade Center, collapsed after 56 minutes from fire. The people in that building who perished did have about an hour and some communications access to say goodbye, to communicate to some degree, though nowhere near as much communications capacity as today. Some were able to say goodbye, and that’s the basis of this exercise.

For an hour today, I ask you to do something different. Get away from the daily distractions if you can, if possible, and write out what you would say if you were facing your last hour alive. Pop open your email client or word processor or whatever and take that time to put down into words what you’d want to leave behind, and limit yourself strictly to that hour.

Who would you write to? One person, a bunch of people? Close friends? A child? A parent?

What would you say? What words would you want to leave behind, to endure beyond you? Tell someone that you loved them? Compress the most important life lessons you can think of for your children?

Write it down. Put it out of your mind and into a tangible, communicable reality.

Then send it. Send it now, send it today, send it while you are still able, because one day, you won’t be able to any longer.

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Comments

27 responses to “In your last hour, what would you write?”

  1. Irene Robertson Avatar
    Irene Robertson

    I am going to do this. It could be a very powerful, yet cleansing activity.

    Reply
  2. Dinneen Diette Avatar
    Dinneen Diette

    Excellent idea and will make many (including myself) be reminded of what's REALLY important in life.

    Reply
  3. Dave Folkens Avatar
    Dave Folkens

    Great idea Chris-
    So much of the important stuff in our lives go unsaid. Taken years, but I've learned you better say things when you have the chance.

    Reply
  4. Tom Martin Avatar
    Tom Martin

    Christopher,

    Actually I don't need an hour. I'd say exactly what I emailed people the day after it happened.

    Quote:

    Yesterday a terrible thing happened and it wasn't the large scale death of innocent people. It was that a lot of innocent people got up, went to work thinking it was an ordinary day. And some subset of that group left for work on bad terms with someone important in their life. A wife, a boss, a friend a family member. Someone who they were having a fight with or with whom their relationship just wasn't right.

    And then they died.

    And that person, the person with whom things weren't right… has to live the rest of their life knowing that they didn't get a chance to make things right with someone they cared about in life.

    Life is fickle. It can end at any moment. Make sure you start and end every day by making sure you're right with the ones you love. And right now, if there is someone in your life that you're not right with, call them.

    In fact, make all the calls.

    END QUOTE:

    So Christopher, I'd amend your challenge to do more than just write your last words. I'd challenge everyone that reads this post today to make the calls, all of the calls to ensure that if they were ever in that terrible situation, all they'd need to write was “goodbye.”

    @TomMartin

    Reply
  5. KatJaib Avatar
    KatJaib

    This moved me deeply. Yes! I will. Thank you.I have two brothers who have maybe a 52% idea of how much I love them. Many others, too, often on my mind and in my heart. Need to say it, for real.

    Reply
  6. Sue Spaight Avatar
    Sue Spaight

    Thank you, Chris – what a great idea. This is a beautiful way to remember and honor those who died, and many of us are still struggling with how to do that. I wish I could do it one minute from now – at 8:46. The meeting I have at that time – social media for healthcare – seems very hollow and meaningless. But I will definitely do it. Might even post it.

    Sue Spaight

    Reply
  7. blancastella Avatar
    blancastella

    Hi Chris, I didn't wake up early enough for the letter. However, I have been writing about this subject for 7 years. I almost died and had a “last hour”. I never take life for granted. I wake up grateful everyday for my family and friends and am always vocal about it.
    Luckily my teen son handles my constant jabbering….he's the light of my life & inspiration for everything I do.
    At least he listens…and now I listen in a whole different way.
    Have a wonderful day!

    Reply
  8. JayFleischman Avatar
    JayFleischman

    I agree with Tom, but the upshot is that we should all strive to live a better life and just be better people. That's not always an easy task, but it's a worthy goal. How we treat our family members, our friends, our colleagues and our customers/clients is the only thing that will endure once we're gone. Not too many headstones out chiseled with, “He was a hard worker.”

    My friend's dad died a number of years ago, quite unexpectedly after a routine knee operation. Each time he ended a conversation with my friend, his dad would say, “Remember I love you.” And the afternoon he died, my friend left from visiting the hospital after hearing those words.

    Though they didn't lessen the grief he felt, my friend goes through life knowing how his father felt about him. That's pretty powerful stuff – and the exact thing most people would write if given a final hour.

    Reply
  9. jameshicks Avatar
    jameshicks

    profound

    Reply
  10. Irene Robertson Avatar
    Irene Robertson

    I am going to do this. It could be a very powerful, yet cleansing activity.

    Reply
  11. Irene Robertson Avatar
    Irene Robertson

    I am going to do this. It could be a very powerful, yet cleansing activity.

    Reply
  12. Dinneen Diette Avatar
    Dinneen Diette

    Excellent idea and will make many (including myself) be reminded of what's REALLY important in life.

    Reply
  13. Dinneen Diette Avatar
    Dinneen Diette

    Excellent idea and will make many (including myself) be reminded of what's REALLY important in life.

    Reply
  14. Dave Folkens Avatar
    Dave Folkens

    Great idea Chris-
    So much of the important stuff in our lives go unsaid. Taken years, but I've learned you better say things when you have the chance.

    Reply
  15. Dave Folkens Avatar
    Dave Folkens

    Great idea Chris-
    So much of the important stuff in our lives go unsaid. Taken years, but I've learned you better say things when you have the chance.

    Reply
  16. Tom Martin Avatar
    Tom Martin

    Christopher,

    Actually I don't need an hour. I'd say exactly what I emailed people the day after it happened.

    Quote:

    Yesterday a terrible thing happened and it wasn't the large scale death of innocent people. It was that a lot of innocent people got up, went to work thinking it was an ordinary day. And some subset of that group left for work on bad terms with someone important in their life. A wife, a boss, a friend a family member. Someone who they were having a fight with or with whom their relationship just wasn't right.

    And then they died.

    And that person, the person with whom things weren't right… has to live the rest of their life knowing that they didn't get a chance to make things right with someone they cared about in life.

    Life is fickle. It can end at any moment. Make sure you start and end every day by making sure you're right with the ones you love. And right now, if there is someone in your life that you're not right with, call them.

    In fact, make all the calls.

    END QUOTE:

    So Christopher, I'd amend your challenge to do more than just write your last words. I'd challenge everyone that reads this post today to make the calls, all of the calls to ensure that if they were ever in that terrible situation, all they'd need to write was “goodbye.”

    @TomMartin

    Reply
  17. Tom Martin Avatar
    Tom Martin

    Christopher,

    Actually I don't need an hour. I'd say exactly what I emailed people the day after it happened.

    Quote:

    Yesterday a terrible thing happened and it wasn't the large scale death of innocent people. It was that a lot of innocent people got up, went to work thinking it was an ordinary day. And some subset of that group left for work on bad terms with someone important in their life. A wife, a boss, a friend a family member. Someone who they were having a fight with or with whom their relationship just wasn't right.

    And then they died.

    And that person, the person with whom things weren't right… has to live the rest of their life knowing that they didn't get a chance to make things right with someone they cared about in life.

    Life is fickle. It can end at any moment. Make sure you start and end every day by making sure you're right with the ones you love. And right now, if there is someone in your life that you're not right with, call them.

    In fact, make all the calls.

    END QUOTE:

    So Christopher, I'd amend your challenge to do more than just write your last words. I'd challenge everyone that reads this post today to make the calls, all of the calls to ensure that if they were ever in that terrible situation, all they'd need to write was “goodbye.”

    @TomMartin

    Reply
  18. Kat Jaibur Avatar
    Kat Jaibur

    This moved me deeply. Yes! I will. Thank you.I have two brothers who have maybe a 52% idea of how much I love them. Many others, too, often on my mind and in my heart. Need to say it, for real.

    Reply
  19. Kat Jaibur Avatar
    Kat Jaibur

    This moved me deeply. Yes! I will. Thank you.I have two brothers who have maybe a 52% idea of how much I love them. Many others, too, often on my mind and in my heart. Need to say it, for real.

    Reply
  20. Sue Spaight Avatar
    Sue Spaight

    Thank you, Chris – what a great idea. This is a beautiful way to remember and honor those who died, and many of us are still struggling with how to do that. I wish I could do it one minute from now – at 8:46. The meeting I have at that time – social media for healthcare – seems very hollow and meaningless. But I will definitely do it. Might even post it.

    Sue Spaight

    Reply
  21. Sue Spaight Avatar
    Sue Spaight

    Thank you, Chris – what a great idea. This is a beautiful way to remember and honor those who died, and many of us are still struggling with how to do that. I wish I could do it one minute from now – at 8:46. The meeting I have at that time – social media for healthcare – seems very hollow and meaningless. But I will definitely do it. Might even post it.

    Sue Spaight

    Reply
  22. blancastella Avatar
    blancastella

    Hi Chris, I didn't wake up early enough for the letter. However, I have been writing about this subject for 7 years. I almost died and had a “last hour”. I never take life for granted. I wake up grateful everyday for my family and friends and am always vocal about it.
    Luckily my teen son handles my constant jabbering….he's the light of my life & inspiration for everything I do.
    At least he listens…and now I listen in a whole different way.
    Have a wonderful day!

    Reply
  23. blancastella Avatar
    blancastella

    Hi Chris, I didn't wake up early enough for the letter. However, I have been writing about this subject for 7 years. I almost died and had a “last hour”. I never take life for granted. I wake up grateful everyday for my family and friends and am always vocal about it.
    Luckily my teen son handles my constant jabbering….he's the light of my life & inspiration for everything I do.
    At least he listens…and now I listen in a whole different way.
    Have a wonderful day!

    Reply
  24. JayFleischman Avatar
    JayFleischman

    I agree with Tom, but the upshot is that we should all strive to live a better life and just be better people. That's not always an easy task, but it's a worthy goal. How we treat our family members, our friends, our colleagues and our customers/clients is the only thing that will endure once we're gone. Not too many headstones out chiseled with, “He was a hard worker.”

    My friend's dad died a number of years ago, quite unexpectedly after a routine knee operation. Each time he ended a conversation with my friend, his dad would say, “Remember I love you.” And the afternoon he died, my friend left from visiting the hospital after hearing those words.

    Though they didn't lessen the grief he felt, my friend goes through life knowing how his father felt about him. That's pretty powerful stuff – and the exact thing most people would write if given a final hour.

    Reply
  25. JayFleischman Avatar
    JayFleischman

    I agree with Tom, but the upshot is that we should all strive to live a better life and just be better people. That's not always an easy task, but it's a worthy goal. How we treat our family members, our friends, our colleagues and our customers/clients is the only thing that will endure once we're gone. Not too many headstones out chiseled with, “He was a hard worker.”

    My friend's dad died a number of years ago, quite unexpectedly after a routine knee operation. Each time he ended a conversation with my friend, his dad would say, “Remember I love you.” And the afternoon he died, my friend left from visiting the hospital after hearing those words.

    Though they didn't lessen the grief he felt, my friend goes through life knowing how his father felt about him. That's pretty powerful stuff – and the exact thing most people would write if given a final hour.

    Reply
  26. jameshicks Avatar
    jameshicks

    profound

    Reply
  27. jameshicks Avatar
    jameshicks

    profound

    Reply

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