Chip Conley

These four beautiful words have been attributed to Michelangelo as the last sentence he ever uttered. It’s also been said that the same mantra appeared above the doorway to the entrance of his studio. What a full life this human lived.

Graduations, weddings, birthday parties, bar mitzvahs, baby showers, and reunions. We all love rituals. They represent the momentous and profound moments of our lives. Unfortunately, they’ve all but disappeared during the pandemic.

An MEA alum recently asked me why I’ve never reviewed my last book, “Wisdom@Work,” for Wisdom Well. Honestly, I’d never thought of it...until this past week with the Airbnb IPO. So, here’s my attempt at giving W@W a new view based upon my past eight years as CEO Brian Chesky’s in-house mentor.

Recently, I was asked on a podcast about what someone my age could learn from someone half my age. Here was my spontaneous list, all of which is terribly generalized. Take what’s valuable to you and leave the rest:

Twentieth century social scientists used to look at life as three sets of 8,000 days, the first ending around your 21st birthday, the second ending in your mid-forties when your “crisis” had taken hold, and the last act ending around your sixty-fifth birthday when you were retiring and withdrawing from an active role in society.

Policymakers better take note. My friend Andrew Scott, co-author of “The 100-Year Life,” outlines the following in his essay for the International Monetary Fund entitled “The Future of Aging for Policymakers:”

What is anything worth? And, what defines true wealth? Ponderous subjects in the wake of a couple record-setting IPOs last week.

“It’s only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked.” Warren Buffett

MEA mastery faculty member Lynne Twist wrote a bestselling book nearly two decades ago called “The Soul of Money: Reclaiming the Wealth of our Inner Resources.” Given the financial challenges of COVID, it felt like an appropriate choice for this week’s Book Club.

IPO. Entrepreneurs dream about this day. Yet, Disappointment = Expectations - Reality so IPO might also represent “I’m Pissed Off” if the market doesn’t respond as you’d expected. The Airbnb founders have been preparing for today for a dozen years.