Tag: aging

What’s far more important than your physical age.

Are you worried about your age? Are you concerned that you are too old for the types of opportunities that now interest you most? Do you feel that you are too old to learn the new thing that is transforming your industry? Do you feel like you are too old for the dream you have been dreaming your whole life? Do you think you are too old to cut the mustard and not realize that mustard no longer needs to be cut?

Or do you think you are too young? That you don’t know enough and that you are not ready for the opportunities that are at your doorstep? Do you feel too young for the next level of responsibility? Do you find yourself singing, I don’t wanta grow up. I’m a Toys R Us kid?

I am currently reading Curtis Jackson’s book Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter. You may know Curtis better by his monetary name, 50 Cent. Fifty talks about how some people have a difficult time transitioning as times change. Then he dropped these 2 cents (which may mean he is now 48 Cents):

“Age isn’t about what year you were born in. It is about how you approach the year you are in right now. “

-Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson

This is a good reminder to face today as if you belong. As if the changes, advances and technologies are coming for your benefit. Not to leave you behind, like Nicolas Cage and Lea Thompson.

Approach this year and every year with a growth mindset. As a learner. As a Curious George, ready to get into new trouble. Or as a Sponge Bob, ready to soak up new ideas and new possibilities, instead of simply becoming a Krabby Patty.

Key Takeaway

Your mindset should be an asset, not a liability. Approach each year with a youthful spirit and you will learn, grow, explore, and take advantage of all the new opportunities available. Recognize the new roles and opportunities afforded to you. Don’t get stuck in the good old days mindset. There are great things in every day. You simply need to adapt to take advantage of them.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

Oops! Was I supposed to be growing up?

Last weekend I read a book by Maya Angelou. I don’t think she meant the book for me, because she titled it, Letter to My Daughter. Not only am I not Maya Angelou’s daughter,  I am not a daughter at all. But you can learn a lot by reading things that aren’t intended for you. Just ask any communist government official.

One of the thought-provoking ideas shared in the book was this perspective on aging:

I am convinced that most people do not grow up. We find parking spaces and honor our credit cards. We marry and dare to have children and call that growing up. I think what we do is mostly grow old. We carry accumulation of years in our bodies and on our faces, but generally our real selves, the children inside, are still innocent and shy as magnolias.   -Maya Angelou in Letter to My Daughter

I take great comfort in this perspective. As a husband and father of three children, I know I am supposed to act like an adult. In my role as the Founder and CEO of a growing business, I realize households are counting on my good decisions to help pay for things like mortgages, medicine and food. And on most days, I can pass for an amateur adult.

But on the inside, I still process the world much the way I did as a young boy. I can find innuendo and double entendres in anything. Recently I had to watch the ‘Changing Bodies’ video my 10-year-old was about to see in school. I tried to hold it together when the video depicted an animated penis erecting, but I failed miserably. Yep, I’m that guy.

But it helps to think I may not be alone. Maybe on the inside you too feel like you are still the kid you’ve always been. Maybe we all do.

Thanks for the perspective Ms. Angelou. I knew you knew why the caged bird sings. But today, I take even greater comfort in the fact that you know why I snicker during the sex education video.