This post should be called “Things I have learned after 50 years“, instead of “50 Something“, but the title selected seems more appropriate! Today I’m 50 years old plus 1 day and I feel not at all different from previous days!
In fact, the “50 years old +” phrase does not signify any bad connotation, as those I would have imagined in previous years or any diminishing in my capabilities, as those we have learned to associate with older ages.
My “passage” in my 50s seems very normal and follows a long list a changes and transformations I have intentionally launched in my life!
What 50 Something Brings
It is customary, at this point, for someone, to review his life and evaluate his/her strengths and weaknesses. But I’m not going to do that. It is no a personal scorecard to estimate what’s gone right or wrong.
I do not see the life as a process with deadlines but as a constant flow! There are, of course, milestones and things mark our course of action, but those are points of personal reference and reflection (points of view if you like it better!) and not fixed road marks, that would signify a stop or change in our way.
So what 50+ brings? In my life, brought (among other things):
- setting goals, objectives, strategies and tasks for achieving them,
- the commitment of being the owner of myself (thanks to Chris Brogan for this concept and the constant inspiration),
- enhanced experience in business development, training and e-learning,
- having a plan and a strive after forming win-win strategies for the situations I’m involved with,
- constant learning in new domains and subject areas,
- initiative and development of various business, learning and commercial products, services, courses, and material,
- personal growth and transformation via eliminating old habits (I quit, rather easily, smoking, after more than 30 years) and establishing new ones (daily writing, exercising, etc),
- establishing new routines, customs, approaches, exercises, ideas, etc in order serve my objectives,
- keep your loyalties, and the relationship with your associates,
- exploring new fields of knowledge and acquire the necessary skills,
- empowerment and cultivation of my personal inner circle of people matter to me (family, friends, close associates, collaborators, etc) and development of new meaningful (and mutually beneficial, I believe) connections with new, interesting, people,
- intended focus on health and fitness (diet, exercises, sports, etc),
- forming better mastermind and advisory groups for me and the other people,
- enhanced consulting, mentoring and interviewing capabilities,
- enhanced commitment in helping other people finding their way in life (even though I’m still not too comfortable in accepting or asking help for myself!),
- better understanding of the systems. method and approaches involved in personal and professional situations,
- a more clear perspective of what I want and want not to do!
- document a lot of things in my life and automate what I can,
- development of various communities, disseminating and propagate interesting and valuable things and information for all its members,
- development of a blog as a main dissemination point of my ideas and approaches and as a first step of my platform for interacting with the world,
- authoring and writing of some book(s), several posts and articles, and a lot of texts, case studies, RFPs, proposals, marketing materials, papers, and white-papers,
- very good and loyal friends, a devoted and fostering family, excellent business associates, good counselors and an active network of interested people,
- new business development in directions has not taken into account in previous ages,
- constant development of learning modules, materials and courses to help people to acquire a more flexible mindset and skill set in the present market conditions,
- new skills, approaches, ideas and ways of doing better and more efficient some things,
- focus on insights and feelings, as major components of a conscious living,
- emphasis in a simpler way of living and maintain a work-life balance,
- the conscious effort of developing all the necessary resources and tools for helping me rise above the average(!),
- more rigid control of my time management efforts,
- better and enhance communication and networking,
- taking calculating risks and moving out of my “comfort zone“
- developing of various resources (not only financial and business) that would permit me to align my life with my purposes.
What I Have Learned (So Far)
This journey (the flow of my life) besides all the excellent things and challenges make me cope with, brought and a lot of concepts and insights, not I have fully understood at first or appreciate them in length! Among the most important ones, there are some views, approaches and insights that I always try to uphold and sustain as of highest value for me. Some of them, include:
- Adjust my visions and objectives in my lifestyle,
- Customize the things to my ways and not the other way around,
- Leadership starts from yourself and aims at serving the other people,
- Align your tools and resources towards your objectives (do not change your goals, when you preferred tool does not agree with them),
- Always monitor and measure what you want to change or maintain,
- Search, find and cultivate your special “voice” and style,
- Offer support, help and acknowledgment to everyone you associate with,
- Develop win-win strategies for the mutual benefit of all the people involved in a situation and employ them in utmost care and with respect to the other parties,
- Be transparent in all your interaction, keeping your authenticity and originality,
- Be accountable and responsible for your choices and the paths you select for implementation (for yourself and for the other people might follow you, or observe you),
- Act as if everyone sees and monitors your activities,
- Be flexible and ready to change or alter everything that does not longer serve its original purpose,
- Provide more value to the people you interact with, than it is expected. Bring more value not only to your clients but to all people your action may affect,
- Prepare the future you want to live in,
- Commit to investing in your self all the time,
- Always involved in the situation you have to handle and take the necessary risks (do not let others to handle it for you nor speak for something you do not know well)
- Cultivate your relationships and never perceive them as “given” or just “there“,
- Cultivate your habits, to change the way you live, perceive, act and interact with the world,
- Change the approaches and perspectives does not have any results and replace them with new, functional ones,
- Always strive after excellence and try to rise above the average(!), if you can! (Otherwise, do not complain!).
Question: What you find useful and what you have to erase from you life, when you reach at a certain age? How you cope with the age shifting? What you have to alter in you life? Please comment on “50 Something” not just from the age point of view, but from your personal view.