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I never said that I was old ... One good sign is that my wife keeps telling me to act my age!

by smoyer 10y ago

fineline 10y ago
Nobody has any experience of being any older than they currently are, but a lifetime's memory of being younger. Hence most people of all ages feel old. One trick I like to play on myself is to imagine I come back from twenty years in the future. What advice would I give myself? First thing would have to be "shut up about being old! Your life is still ahead of you." I like the other trick too, where I imagine being visited by a teenage me and thinking what he would say about where I'm at. It can be an awkward conversation. Where's the Ferrari? As a less whacky version, pay really good attention to your parents and your kids.
- tluyben2 10y ago
  I use that timetravel trick as well; I never thought I was old (I like getting older so far; so many doors just open that were closed before), but yeah things to tell your younger self; do not hurry so much. Make 10 year+ plans when doing things. I always hurried thinking something would end; I have been running companies since I was 15 and, for instance, the first company I co-ran with my uncle, made educational software for MS-DOS and later Windows 3.11 and then Win95 etcetc. I was in hurry because I thought first MS-DOS would go away and then that Windows apps would go away because web. The software I made then sells well still; it's now over 25 years old... Why did I hurry/worry? Things I thought that would end, like the CMS market 16 years ago (a market my company thrived in) didn't end. They became bigger. If I would've not hurried, I would have less stress at the time and probably be running on a larger scale than that company is doing now. You cannot stand still and for some parts there needs to be a sense of urgency but it doesn't change that much in most markets. Currently I use that to tell my colleagues we need a 10-year plan, not just a 3-5 year plan.

I never said that I was old ... One good sign is that my wife keeps telling me to act my age!

by smoyer 10y ago

I never said that I was old ... One good sign is that my wife keeps telling me to act my age!

Nobody has any experience of being any older than they currently are, but a lifetime's memory of being younger. Hence most people of all ages feel old. One trick I like to play on myself is to imagine I come back from twenty years in the future. What advice would I give myself? First thing would have to be "shut up about being old! Your life is still ahead of you." I like the other trick too, where I imagine being visited by a teenage me and thinking what he would say about where I'm at. It can be an awkward conversation. Where's the Ferrari? As a less whacky version, pay really good attention to your parents and your kids.

tluyben2 10y ago
I use that timetravel trick as well; I never thought I was old (I like getting older so far; so many doors just open that were closed before), but yeah things to tell your younger self; do not hurry so much. Make 10 year+ plans when doing things. I always hurried thinking something would end; I have been running companies since I was 15 and, for instance, the first company I co-ran with my uncle, made educational software for MS-DOS and later Windows 3.11 and then Win95 etcetc. I was in hurry because I thought first MS-DOS would go away and then that Windows apps would go away because web. The software I made then sells well still; it's now over 25 years old... Why did I hurry/worry? Things I thought that would end, like the CMS market 16 years ago (a market my company thrived in) didn't end. They became bigger. If I would've not hurried, I would have less stress at the time and probably be running on a larger scale than that company is doing now. You cannot stand still and for some parts there needs to be a sense of urgency but it doesn't change that much in most markets. Currently I use that to tell my colleagues we need a 10-year plan, not just a 3-5 year plan.