Age is not a number. It’s an attitude.
Reillys mantra for the week had been:
YOU’RE ONLY EVER ONE CONVERSATION AWAY FROM A TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCE.
He hadn’t quite banked however, on getting one in the pub on Friday evening.
‘Reilly,’ says Magann, ‘or should I say Grandad,’ snidely referring to Reilly’s new found status as a Grandfather to Baby Zara on December 30th.
‘Now that you’re a Grandfather you’ll have to start ageing with grace.’ ‘Who’s Grace,’ says Reilly with more than a whiff of sarcasm.
‘No need for that now Reilly. It’s just you need to start taking your responsibilities seriously. It’s well time to start trading in those speedos and you’ll have to stop larking around in that RIB. Those items are designed for people half your age.’
Reilly dissed him with another sarcastic comment but nonetheless it got him thinking. ‘Was he really getting too long in the tooth for certain activities or ventures?’
He decided to consult with Statty, the pubs resident encyclopaedia, and expert on all manner of detail – useful and useless.
Statty was, as his wont, in a corner of the pub in active conversation with his laptop. He was clearly in jubilant form.
‘What’s up Statty,’ says Reilly cordially.
‘Chatbot Reilly. It’s unreal.’
Reilly assumed chatbot was some sort of porn and asked Statty what was it about.
‘It’s like Google on steroids Reilly. It’s going to revolutionise the way we’re going to live. It will render accountants, architects, designers, journalists, solicitors all obsolete in jig time.
‘No kidding Statty. But what is it?
‘A chatbot is a computer program that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) to understand customer questions and automate responses to them, simulating human conversation.’
‘Well if it’s that good will you ask him, or her, if there’s much evidence in the world of people either being too young or too old to embark on something audacious?
Statty imbibed deeply into his pint and keyed in the question to a chatbot.
STATISTICAL EVIDENCE OF THE IMPACT OF AGEING.
• Tiger Woods was 3 when he shot 48 for nine holes on his hometown golf course in Cypress, California.|
• Mozart was 8 when he wrote his first symphony.
• Charles Dickens was 12 when he quit school to work in a factory pasting labels onto polish bottles, because his father had been imprisoned for debt.
• Anne Frank was 13 when she began her diary.
• Ralph Waldo Emerson was 14 when he enrolled in Harvard.
• Paul McCartney was 15 when some dude called John Lennon invited him to join a band.
• Kevin Barry, was just a lad of 18 summers when executed in front of his beloved mother by British troops for refusing to surrender to the Crown.
• Bill Gates was 19 when he co-founded Microsoft.
• Pat McDonagh, founder of Supermacs, was the Principal in Kilrickle national school at 22.
• Ralph Lauren was 29 when he created Polo.
• Bill Gates was 31 when he became a billionaire.
• Johnny Sexton – (Statty clearly was struggling with this as he’s a diehard Munster rugby fanatic) – is 37 and still captain of the Ireland rugby team at a time when they’re ranked number 1 in the world and captain of Leinster who are arguably the best club side in the world.
• Mother Teresa was 40 when she founded the Missionaries of Charity.
• ROG was only 43 when he managed La Rochelle to thwart Leinster in last years most memorable European Cup Final. (Statty relaxed visibly after imparting this stat.)
• Christy Ring was still playing championship hurling at 46 but sadly died at the tender age of 58.
• Henry Ford was 50 when he started his first manufacturing assembly line.
• Ray Kroc was a 52 year old milkshake machine salesman when he bought out Mac and Dick McDonald and officially started McDonalds.
• Pablo Picasso was 53 when he painted Guernica.
• Dom Perignon was 60 when he first produced champagne.
• Oscar Hammerstein was 64 when he wrote The Sound of Music.
• Nelson Mandela was 71 when he was released from a South African prison. A mere 4 years later he was elected President of South Africa.
• Michelangelo was 72 when he designed the dome of St Peter’s Basilica.
• Auguste Rodin was 73 when he married Rose Beuret, whom he met when he was 23.
• Pat Kenny will be 75 this week and the women say he still looks as good as when he was 35.
• Benjamin Franklin was 79 when he invented bifocal glasses.
• Michael Flanagan, that beautiful gentle soul who was laid to rest in Salthill Church this week, scored a hole-in-one on the second hole in Galway Golf Links when he was 80.
• Micko Dwyer, the legendary Kerry footballer and manager, was 86 last week when he went up the aisle with his beautiful new bride, Geraldine McGirr, from Tyrone.
• Dimitrion Yordanidis was 98 when he ran a marathon in 7 hours and 33 minutes in Athens.
• Ichijirou Ataya was 100 when he climbed Mount Fuji.
Reilly decided to interject at the 100 mark and refocus Statty’s antennae.
‘Statty, ask ‘Chatbot’ what does all this really mean?
LEARNINGS.
• A growing number of us are living thirty years longer than our great-grandparents did with life expectancy increasing by 2.5 years a decade.
• The key learning however is that age is an attitude, not a statistic or number. Dr Samantha Boardman, in her book ‘Ready for Anything’ states categorically that.
• Many think of getting older as synonymous with decline — a progressive worsening of physical and cognitive functioning along with reduced quality of life.
• ‘Studies show that this negative view is far from the truth. Contrary to the stereotypes that tell us it’s all downhill after 50, getting older is, in fact, associated with higher well-being and better psychosocial functioning.
• ‘Most people become more responsible, more agreeable, and less neurotic with age. This is known as the Maturity Principle. Despite the stereotypes portrayed in the movie Grumpy Old Men, people tend to get nicer, more productive and to become greater contributors to society in their old age.
• ‘We also get better at regulating our emotions and experience fewer negative emotions and enjoy more positive ones. In other words, we are like fine wine, we get better with time.
• ‘The key is focusing on what age gives us, not what it takes away. People with more positive attitudes about growing old tend to live longer and healthier lives than those with negative thoughts about ageing according to research
BACK TO THE STORY .
As Reilly was departing the bar he gave Magann a good dig in the ribs. ‘Magann, I’ve been reflecting on what you advised about ageing with grace. ‘Good man Reilly. It’s really all downhill now and we need to act our age.’
‘You’re right Magann. I’ve decided to age with attitude.
QUOTE.
‘More important than gender, income, social background, loneliness, or functional health was how people thought about and approached the idea of old age. Age beliefs, it turns out, can steal or add nearly eight years to your life. —Becca Levy. ‘Breaking the Age Code.’
QUESTION.
1. Do you believe that your best is yet to come? If so, give serious consideration to
joining Reilly on a 6 month Pilot Programme called Age With Attitude.
AGE WITH ATTITUDE COURSE.
You’d be amazed at just how many men and women in midlife struggle with getting older. Society presumes we should be slowing down whereas we ourselves are ready for more. To be more, to do more and to help others be and do more. We just aren’t quite sure how to go about it, where to look for help from and who else is
That’s why we created the ‘Age With Attitude’ training Programme. To give you the skills, the self-esteem and the confidence to make your next 30 years rock.
As we often say in Smácht, every professional has a plan. Pilots do. Doctors do. Architects and builders do.
Very few have a plan for midlife and beyond.
Reilly will take a select group of 10 good men and women on a journey of self- and personal development that will enable you to make your Acct £ rockand personal development that will enable you to make your Act 3 rock. To discuss it in more detail please email Reilly on p@omaille.ie
What’s more, join a Smácht Mastermind group. Learn how to become more decisive and take responsibility for making a difference in the world. Book a call today.
