It’s only a number
One of the factors prompting me to write this blog is the recent report from the IMF concerning the mental/physical health of people of precisely my age. I like to think I’m not obsessed with or fearful of growing old and the decline of faculties in general. In fact, I would say it’s the opposite which is the case! I was delighted therefore to read the summary of the report stating that “the 70s are the new 50s” and that, on average, a person who was 70 in 2022 had the same cognitive ability as a 53-year-old in 2000. Physical strength also improved, with the frailty of a 70-year-old in 2022 corresponding with a person who was 56 in 2000.
But let me say quickly that my article isn’t simply selfish or self-congratulatory. My angle on this is a far wider one as I firmly believe in the latent power of the entire silver workforce and, as a successful coach, in the latent power of all of us to continue to improve our mental and physical capabilities way beyond our own expectations. Hence the link to the Inner Game of Tennis – my first ever coaching book and undoubtedly ‘the ultimate guide to the mental side of peak performance’.
You don’t know what you don’t know
If a coach is successful, he or she can raise a coachee’s awareness of abilities to a level which the coachee would not even have dreamt of. Having run my own business for 25 years now, nearly half of which has been as a qualified coach, I am currently reinventing myself at the age of seventy and relishing every single minute of it!
With a portfolio of growing businesses healthily exploiting their burgeoning abilities and an increasing number of execs keeping their careers on track and their zest for life very much alive, I am currently challenging myself more than ever before. It is my belief that this phenomenon is at the heart of my longevity and continued energy. In a kind of virtuous circle, self-belief has probably become the single most important part of my skill set and, I am often told, the strikingly visible facet of my professional persona which is on display every time I open my mouth.
Never too late to learn
Since reading the Inner Game of Tennis by Michael Gallwey I’ve added two more to my trio of ‘go-to’ coaching bibles and they are Coaching for Performance by Sir John Whitmore and NLP At Work by Sue Knight. Pragmatic and powerful, Whitmore unleashes the highly effective GROW model to keep our goal pursuit on track whilst Sue Knight thrills with the magic and emotion that crafted language and behaviour can provide for anyone with the blend of curiosity, flexibility and self-awareness to tap into the subconscious mind.
To sum up, if you are prepared and able to keep up your curiosity in life by continuous learning, work with passion and yet humility then the words of the IMF will definitely apply to you every bit as much as I’m delighted to believe they do to me…