A few years back one of the major wealth management firms made this app available where you could take a picture and age yourself to help you envision what you would look like when you reach retirement age.
While I look really old in the picture, I didn't think much of it because I was still "young." Fast forward to January 1, 2024, I'm entering the 24th year of my career, closer to 50 than 40, and if I'm honest with myself, my decline may have already begun.
Since I've spent the majority of my career in learning and development, I work with many recent college graduates. For many years I related to their experiences, remembering my time at UW-Madison and Marquette University. While I still remember a lot about college, the reality is that I started my college journey almost 30 years ago. I'm much closer to my dad's age from this picture when I graduated with my undergraduate degree and he went back to school to get his degree.
It's clear that time has passed, but what about the decline part of the equation. I'm confident that I'm adding value in my work, but no matter your profession, decline is inevitable. For athletes careers can be over as early as your 20's or 30's while most of us working in office or other professional vocations can expect to contribute productively for longer.
In Arthur C. Brooks book, "From Strength to Strength", the author explores this decline while offering hope for "finding success, happiness, and deep purpose in the second half of life." He highlights Raymond Cattell's research on two types of intelligence humans posses, fluid and crystallized intelligence. I won't go into all the details here, but the bottom line is that crystallized intelligence is about translating the knowledge and experiences you have gained in life into wisdom.
Did you know? Learn more about these types of intelligence and how we use them here: Link
Wisdom is what I am seeking and according to the author and research he cites in the book, I am in the right profession and decline while inevitable, may be delayed till much later in life! Furthermore, I don't necessarily need to be on a constantly seeking advancement to be happy and fulfilled. (Note, my Achiever strength may necessitate daily achievement, but that can be applied to almost anything)
Regardless of your profession, if your college experience is further behind you than retirement ahead of you and you have tendencies of constant striving that causes you to bury yourself in your work, at the cost of other parts of your life, take a few hours to explore this book to help you explore your best path forward.
While the sun may no longer be rising on my life and career, I'm excited to experience the beauty of a sunset that's filled with learning.
Learn In The Flow Of Life
Jason
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