"It's not the years in your life, it's the life in your years that matter."
- Abe Lincoln
It's now been more than a decade since I first spent my birthday on the Mexican coast. I first did it when I turned 30, and here I turn 40 (for those wondering.)
Every decade you hit is a new milestone. Elders tell me which decade they enjoyed the most and younger kids think that age is further away than it really is.
As I stood on some of the softest sand in the world wondering what it meant, I thought about the phrase, "age is just a number".
I've always thought that was a stupid phrase.
Do you age like milk or wine?
Biology is tied to age.
As they say, "youth is wasted on the young."
This is why mentors are so important.
So, when people say, "age is just a number", it's usually a front to suppress fear, judgement or regret.
I think it's unnecessary, because if you want to do something with your life, then do it.
I’ve met people in their 50s who are more creative, driven, and excited than people in their 20s. I’ve also met people in their 20s who already feel like they’re out of time.
If you’re measuring yourself against someone else’s timeline, you’re setting yourself up to lose.
My personal approach is to act as if time is running out, because even if I live to be 100, I won't look or feel the same as I do now.
Time is limited.
Quality time is limited even more.
You can't do everything later
A long football career took it's toll on my body and camping is much harder because of it. I could sleep on a hallway floor when I was 23.
If I tried that now I'd prob be in physical therapy.
That's why I'm camping and traveling as much as possible right now. Time is running out. The inspiration, energy, freedom - it can't be taken for granted.
It's not a fear of death, it's realization that this window is closing. A window tied to what I want to do right now.
There are things to get excited about later in life, but I don't expect to be as content if I look back with any regret.
To me, I try to keep a constant state of "I could die happy right now."
It's a feeling of no regret, even if I haven't done everything yet.
The weird thing is that age isn't necessarily tied to length of life.
Jimmy Hendrix was never older than 27 years old.
The Time Fallacy
People overestimate what they can do in a day. But they underestimate what they can do in a year.
- You can build something real in a year.
- You can learn a new skill.
- You can completely reinvent your life.
In 5 years, your will be 5 years older.
So you might as well be 5 years older with a new skill or accomplishment or you.
I was told something similar when I turned 30 and I wondered if it was too late to learn to code.
10 years later, that skill was valuable to the successes I've had.
If you stop using age as a measuring stick and start using time as a tool, everything changes.
The Only Timeline That Matters
Forget the milestones that society tells you are “normal.” There’s no end date on trying something new.
Sure, biology will dictate some things. Some big things.
But the world is so different these days. Society and biology don't agree on much at the moment.
Biology would prefer we'd all have kids in our early 20's when we have plenty of energy, community, young parents and don't need sleep. Now we need to build a career to afford kids and have a stronger sense of self and accomplishment.
There is no wrong answer and these are just my thoughts on age. We make decisions with the information we have at the time and life happens.
The moral of the story is that you get one life.
Be intentional with your time and work on your health as much as possible.
The only timeline that matters is yours. And the only way to waste time is to do nothing at all.