Wisdom

Even today, more than a year after our public launch, people still ask me about my motivation for starting the Modern Elder Academy. It’s a question I never get tired of answering. On the contrary, my answers seem to empower my mission more than ever. Below is a short 3-minute video that...

In an era when “digital natives” (Millennials and Gen-Z) seem to be ruling the world, it’s easy to forget the internet was created by a bunch of Boomers, who forever changed the way the world communicated with each other. Today, I’m calling for a new network, led by the same individuals.

Speaker Jim Rohn says, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” In mathematical terms, you’d say you are the “mean” of these people, which appropriately leads to my two pieces of wisdom on the subject: 1) don’t hang out with mean people or those who don’t appreciate the human spirit; and (2) choose good friends who are wholly different than you.

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:

What do you know now that you wish you’d known ten years ago? That’s a powerful prep question for you to imagine what you might need to know in a decade that you could learn now. For example, given that our MEA beachfront campus is in Mexico and I have a home here, I’m finally learning Spanish (yes, I was that odd kid in LA who studied French, which did have one collateral benefit; 8 years after high school, I chose a sexy, unique French name for my boutique hotel company, Joie de Vivre).

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.

EQ vs. AI. Is it a battle or a partnership? Is emotional intelligence valuable in a world that is increasingly reliant on machine learning? Those were the questions we faced at our AARP #DisruptAging Salon three nights ago in San Francisco. We had 20 MEA alums and several faculty members to help us find the answers.

I loved spending nearly 90 minutes on stage with Brian Chesky at the Commonwealth Club almost exactly a year ago. It was a wonderful opportunity to show in public how we’ve operated in private over the past six and a half years. One of the things we discussed was the disadvantage of being a young entrepreneur. Brian suggests that...

First off, congrats to the 2019 World Series champs, the Washington Nationals, the oldest team (age-wise) in the Major Leagues! Nice way to celebrate my birthday today, Halloween. Elders still know how to get in the groove! Why is the owl perceived as the wisest animal in the kingdom?

Context is everything. The rule of thumb for social media videos is to keep them less than 2 minutes. And, yet, there’s a plethora of podcasters aping my friend Tim Ferriss whose interviews are nearly 2 hours. If you have a message, understand the context. Empathize with the recipient. It's Monday: that’s why I’m gonna keep this one short. LOL.