Aging

For the first time in history, technology has evolved in a way that can allow us to become more human again. Our species is unique in that humans survive not just by passing on our genes, but also by passing on our wisdom before death. While our genome preserves our species, our wisdom evolves our human heritage. And just like DNA is a unique biological human marker, wisdom is unique to the body that accumulated it.

Plato suggested, “You can learn more about someone in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” One key lesson of our Modern Elder Academy is the value of letting our mirror neurons play dance together. The two-minute video below, shot at my home in Baja, outlines some of the reasons why I think midlife requires an openness to feel new and awkward. Click "Read More" to watch the video. Hope you enjoy it.

A friend in his mid-40s recently lost his Silicon Valley job. He felt like he was being put out to pasture like a lame horse, which immediately wounded his pride and put him into a confidence crisis. He’s not alone. More and more people are seeing their futures put out to past-ure. The question is: what to do?

I’ve been thinking a lot about organ recitals. And I’m not talking church here. I’m referring to that conversation we have as we get older—the one that revolves around how our organs don’t work like they used to.

One of the first decisions a writer makes when writing a novel is to decide if he or she wants to write in the present tense or past tense. Either choice works, and it’s purely a matter of preference. The biggest mistake is going back and forth between tenses—not knowing when the action is taking place, which often confuses the reader.

For many, age brings up fierce resistance. We hide the fading of youth with hair dye and facelifts. We no longer have sleeveless tops in our closets. I do not judge that. I sought those “fixes” too. Until it occurred to me that acceptance of myself was at stake and up for grabs.

In the Appendix of “Wisdom@Work: The Making of a Modern Elder,” I list my top 10 books on aging, wisdom and longevity, but I’ve read a bunch more since the book launched a year ago. Here’s my top 5 of the past year:

In our fast-changing world, it’s no surprise that even death has taken on a whole new reality. You might say death is being reinvented from the ground up—call it Dying 2.0. The facts speak for themselves. Since the 1900’s we have more than doubled our lifespan, adding almost 35 years to our lives. While exciting and re-energizing, it is stunning to watch as society does little to prepare for this new shift in reality.

Before you head to Kentucky for your new life as a whiskey connoisseur, I’m talking about distilling wisdom. It’s a simple recipe: Wisdom is knowledge distilled. And as we move from the age of “knowledge workers” to “wisdom workers,” it’s required that we each learn how to mine our own special brand of moonshine.

I was honored to be the finale speaker at the annual TEDxMarin a couple months ago. The video was just published and offers answers to some of the following provocative questions: What are the three 20th century life stage inventions and why hasn’t midlife been given the same public policy attention as the other two?