At gybe, we inspire Australians to do the work they love and pursue their dreams.
One of the excuses (read fears) that people have is that they are too old to do something new. They don’t have long until retirement. They’re too old to study again. They can’t possibly start something new at their age.
Today, I want to share some stories of inspiring older Australians who show us that you’re never too old to make a difference.
Fred Hyde is the Queensland Senior Australian of the year and a finalist for Senior Australian of the Year 2015. He is 94 years old. Fred has dedicated the last 30 years of his life to educating abandoned children in Bangladesh. In the past 15 years (since he was 79 years old), Fred has built 45 schools, five kindergartens and teacher training facilities for 165 teachers. He currently has 12,000 children attending ‘Co-operation in Development’ schools in Bangladesh.
Laurie Baymarrwangga was an Aboriginal community leader and elder who was awarded Senior Australian of the Year 2012. Laurie passed away in August 2014 at the age of 98. She had a lifetime of inspirational achievements. In her mid 70s, she started the Yan-nhaŋu dictionary project to record and share her language.
In 2010, whilst Laurie was in her mid 90s, she finally received back payments for rents owed to her as the owner of her father's estate—after 65 years of pursuing it.
She donated it all, approximately $400,000, to improve education and employment opportunities on Crocodile Island and to establish a 1,000 square kilometre turtle sanctuary on her marine estate.
Or Aldo Crotti, OAM. In 2007, he was the South Australian finalist for Australian of the Year. Aldo built his family business, San Remo pasta, over more than 60 years into a major 100% Australian-owned company that continues to employ over 400 people. In his ‘spare time’, he established his own vineyard, Aldo’s Block in Adelaide’s McLaren Vale region.
Aldo was also an active philantrophist who, in his mid 80s, was working every day. Aldo passed away in 2008 and the Crotti family continue to run the San Remo business.
There are many more stories like these—amazing Australians who have achieved outstanding things later in life.
So, are you really too old to start something new?
Have you found your calling? And is the word ‘calling’ too strong? Too scary? Too personal? Too risky? Too religious?
A calling can be defined as “an occupation that an individual (1) feels drawn to pursue, (2) expects to be intrinsically enjoyable and meaningful, and (3) sees as a central part of his or her identity.” (p. 973, Berg, Grant & Johnson, 2010).
In his most recent book, Flourish, Dr Martin Seligman talks about those of us who view our work as our calling being more satisfied, happier, and more engaged.
Dr Seligman proposes that people view their work as
How do you view your work? Would you do it whether you were paid or not?
Adam Grant, distinguished Professor at Wharton Business School and world-renowned author of Give and Take, conducted research with Justin Berg and Victoria Johnson and found that people fell into one of three categories –
I’m especially interested in people who feel they have unanswered callings. Grant and his colleagues found that people with unanswered callings had a range of strategies to help them pursue their calling.
These included
Are you currently working in your calling? Or do you believe you could be doing something more? What strategies do you have to help you fulfil your calling?
I’d love to know what you think.
Have you ever reflected on your personal talents? And what exactly are talents?
A talent can be defined as a ‘natural aptitude or skill’ and ‘a special ability that allows someone to do something well’.
What are you better at than anyone you know?
I think it is a difficult question.
I once attended a leadership workshop where we were asked to share our unique talent with the group – talk about challenging!
A talent is something at which you excel. Perhaps something at which you are better at than anyone you know.
When I reflected on it, I felt that learning is my talent.
Is it easy for you to define your talents? And to say them out loud? Let me know what you think.
Is your work enhancing your wellbeing? Or detracting from your wellbeing?
Does your work give you a sense of achievement? Are you engaged at work? Does it prompt positive emotions? Do you have positive relationships at work? Is it meaningful—providing a sense of belonging to and serving something that you believe is bigger than yourself?
According to Dr Martin Seligman, the founder of positive psychology, wellbeing consists of positive emotion, engagement, meaning, positive relationships, and achievement.
Identifying and working to your strengths can provide a key to unlocking your wellbeing at work.
Research suggests that people who use their strengths at work are more engaged. Sadly, only 35% of employees agree “At work I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day”. Yet employees who have the opportunity to focus on their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged in their jobs and three times more likely to report having an excellent quality of life.
If you haven’t already, take the free VIA Survey of Character Strengths on Dr Seligman’s website and assess your strengths today. And then consider whether you are working to your strengths at work every day.
My top strengths include industry, diligence and perseverance (I love to achieve things and get things done) and love of learning (I’m one of those people who loved school). I once met with Julie Caldecott, a partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Melbourne, and she suggested that every day, I should ask myself two questions: ‘Are you being challenged? Are you learning something new?’. Essentially for me, am I working to my strengths?
Let me know how you go! Are you working to your strengths?
Reality is made by us, not for us.
Do you believe that? It is absolutely true.
Do you see a vase or two people face-to-face? Have you seen the rabbit and duck where the same image 'flips’ between two different pictures. Or the lady who is also a young girl. Some people cannot see the alternative image, no matter how hard they try.
A powerful demonstration of reality being shaped by our perceptions is when you have just bought, or are thinking of buying, a new car. Suddenly, you see your new car EVERYWHERE! Has everyone else suddenly purchased this new car? No, it was always there but you are now noticing it.
You may have heard the story of the salesmen who were sent to Africa by a British shoe manufacturer. They were asked to investigate and report back on market potential. The first salesman reported back, "There is no potential here—nobody wears shoes." The second salesman reported back, "There is massive potential here - nobody wears shoes."
The salesmen were both faced with exactly the same reality and yet came to two completely different conclusions.
Think about your reality. What assumptions do you have about life that are simply not true? Or that you could challenge today?
Do you have to go to work every day—five days a week? Do you really have ‘no money’? Is your life ‘out of control’? Do you need a new car? Do you have ‘no time’ for exercise? Are you really ‘stuck’ in your job? Do you have to retire? Do you have to keep working until you are 65? Or 70? Do you really need a million dollars to retire?
What is your reality? The good and the bad? And what can you change about your reality today? What are the alternative realities?
'I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me'.
This is the top regret on Bronnie Ware’s popular blog post, ‘the top five regrets of the dying’, based on her experience as a live-in carer for terminally ill patients.
How many of us live a life that is shaped by what other people think? Based on other people’s expectations of us?
After the birth of my daughter, I had a 12 month break from work and then returned to work two days each week. People would say “how lucky are you?”. I would respond “You should do it too. I love it.” And they used to scoff and laugh. I would let them know I was serious but they could not imagine working part-time.
My husband is self-employed and will occasionally take Fridays off to have a long weekend away. Or he may play golf on Monday afternoons. He is literally heckled by others every time he does this. Why? Because it does not fit with their expectation that if you are a hard-worker, you have to work five days each week.
It takes a lot of courage to live a life that does not fit with other people’s expectations.
It takes a lot of courage to change your life. To break out of the mold of climbing the corporate ladder. Of earning more and more money. Of spending more and more money. Of working ‘full-time’. Of having access to paid sick leave, public holidays, long service leave and guaranteed superannuation contributions.
But as they say, if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.
What does it mean to live a life true to yourself? I think it is taking the time to reflect on when we feel best about ourselves. When we are truly engaged in doing something we love. When we feel we are being the best version of ourselves. When time flies. When we are completely absorbed. When we are energised by what we are doing. When we are in the ‘flow’.
What assumptions do you have that you can challenge—that are based on others’ expectations?
Do we have to work full-time? Do we have to go back to work after 12 months of maternity leave? Do we have to retire at age 65?
Reflecting on these questions and being honest with our answers.
And then taking the time to think about what that means for our work. And how we could spend more of our time in flow.
The answer doesn’t have to involve throwing in the towel. It may involve a change to your current role, a change in projects, a change to your hours of work, a change to your place of work.
What will it take to look at your life and say ‘I live my life with courage—a life designed by me’?
How much money is enough to retire?
With 50 per cent of retirees not expecting their money to last in retirement, and others delaying retirement indefinitely, it’s clear not many of us have the answer.
Some estimates suggest you need a lump sum of $744,000 for a comfortable living for a couple. Doesn't sound like enough? Another estimate for high-income earners is that you need 67% of your current annual income.
But it all depends.
How long do you expect to live in retirement? The average length of retirement is 18 years.
How much money do you have in superannuation and what type of superannuation fund do you have?
What investments do you have? Do you own your home?
What are your current expenses? And do you expect these to increase or decrease in retirement?
What do you want to do in your retirement? Do you plan to travel? Renovate? Study? Learn to play the violin?
Does it all sound too hard??
A better question is what do you want to do with the next phase of your life?
And how can you live the life you imagined?
Tim Ferriss, author of ‘The 4-hour work week’, suggests it is very hard to arrive at a dollar figure that would support your retirement. He suggests to avoid questions such as ‘what do you want’ or ‘what are your goals’.
Instead, he advises that you think about what excites you and what would excite you in retirement?
What would make you most excited to wake up in the morning to another day?
What would you like to have, be and do?
And then work out how much money you need to sustain that.
It may not be as much as you think!
And you may discover you never actually want to 'retire'! And that you want to start living your 'retirement' dreams now!
