Jump in and just start
Jump in and just start
You did not miss the ship
Hello and welcome to the latest edition of ‘Older Not Over’
I’m a big fan of Dr. Julie Gurner. She’s an executive performance coach, a doctor of Psychology and if you’re a fan of the tv show ‘Billions’ she has been compared to the character Wendy Rhoades by The Wall Street Journal.
Her Twitter feed is incredibly inspiring and more importantly, her advice is advice you can actually implement. One of her many tweets I’ve screenshot and refer to from time to time is the one below.
I couldn’t agree more. Sometimes you just have to jump in. So many factors can hold you back from what people think of you to “it’s just not the right time”. Honestly, it’s never the right time.
It reminds me of a famous Chinese Proverb “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
So go.
Alan
3 stories to inspire you this week
It is never too late for you to make a change in your career
Kristen Asleson says women in the second act of their lives have the experience and skills to be successful, even if starting something new.
https://www.postbulletin.com/business/it-is-never-too-late-for-you-to-make-a-change-in-your-career
Serena Williams serves up a new vision of life and retirement
“I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me....Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me.”
Older people using TikTok to defy ageist stereotypes, research finds
While this article is focused on the increasing number of accounts belonging to users aged 60 and older what I love about this piece is that users like ‘Dolly Broadway’ who is 89 are just jumping in and going for it. So whether you’re 40+ or 80+ just do you.
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Tweet For Your Thoughts
Every week I choose a tweet that contains an amazing thread or question to ponder around the themes of this newsletter. Technically I found this one on Linkedin (‘Linkedin for your thoughts’ doesn’t sound as catchy) but I’m sure its author Steven Bartlett has tweeted it at some stage!
His post is simple. The graph below tells a thousand words. What you’re looking for is sitting and waiting on the other side of fear.
Recommended Read
As always every book I recommend I have read from cover to cover. My recommended read this week is “It's Never Too Late: The Joe Biden Effect - Stories of People Who Changed the World in Later Life” written by Chester Morganfield
With a foreword by Michael Whitehall (Jack Whitehall’s Dad), late bloomer par excellence, it’s a lovely little book with short stories on a variety of people who have achieved success in later life.
”With life comes perspective, wisdom, judgement and depth. You are as likely to change the world after middle age as you were before it - and perhaps more likely to change it for the better.”
From the well-known to the unsung, each entry tells the story of how older age was no barrier to impressive feats of intellect, creativity and daring.
Ranging from Alexander Fleming, Stan Lee and Baroness Trumpington, to Whina Cooper and the bestselling novelist Mary Wesley who didn't write her first novel until she was 71, and William Ivy Baldwin who tightrope walked across a canyon at 82. Here is a celebration of the amazing things we humans have shown to be possible in later life.
'Older Not Over' Podcast
As I work on my next batch of conversations, be sure to listen back to past chats with Richard E. Grant, Roz Savage and Lee Child.
Until next week….
“Got a proper job at 28. Gave it up to try comedy at 38. Decided to get fit and healthy at 48. It’s never too late. But do it now” - Ricky Gervais
Thanks for reading! Before you go, if you have found value in this edition of the newsletter, or just want to support the content I’m producing, you might consider buying me a cup of coffee!