Keeping Up As We Age

QUESTION

Hi Joey. At sixty-one, I am in the twilight of my career and finding it harder and harder to stay motivated and up to date on the latest technology and workplace trends.

So much has changed since I began my career, it’s exhausting trying to keep up. Any advice on how I can stay excited about my work or should I just quietly ride out my days until retirement?

—Ken

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ANSWER

Ken, thanks for the question. All my life, I have battled my internal desire to “know everything.” I started drawing because I saw others doing it. I learned to code when I realized I couldn’t do what others could. And so on.

What was once a strength—the unending desire to learn more—became a weakness as my extra time transitioned from abundant (childhood) to sparse (adulthood). I eventually had a realization:

Whenever we commit to being good at something, we are also committing to be bad at a lot of other things.

I have no doubt that, at this stage of your career, you are so proficient at what you do that you have forgotten what it’s like to not be able to perform. Without the comparison, it’s easy to forget that you are quite good—if not excellent—at your chosen skill.

If you’re feeling left out, ask yourself this one question: What do I need to know?

Focus on the necessities, don’t worry about anything else. Do you think I know how everything works at Baronfig? Absolutely not. Isolate the knowledge you need to acquire and spend your time wisely.

If you have trouble isolating what should be learned, just ask around. Advice and inspiration can come from anyone at your company (our outside of it), so crowdsource your questions to get a bigger set of answers.

You are already well ahead of many. Remember that.

—Joey

Creator of Baronfig
Author of The Laws of Creativity

Fun fact: Colonel Sanders franchised his first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant at age 65.