personal characteristics.
Among the book’s remarkable findings:
• “Most age-related reductions in physical performance are avoidable and many are reversible.”
• “Exercise dramatically increases physical fitness, muscle size, and strength in older individuals.”
• “When it comes to sexual activity . . . chronological age itself is not the critical factor.”
• “The more frequent the [physical] exercise, the greater the benefit, but you don’t have to overdo it. Moderate exercise . . . [as measured in a major study] proved to be nearly as protective as vigorous exercise.”
• “While most people assume that genes play the dominant role, new research suggests that environment and lifestyle may in fact be more important in terms of the risk factors associated with aging.”
The authors also cite the famous African American baseball pitcher Satchel Paige who was still hurling from the mound after the age most big leaguers retire to read their press clippings and dust their trophies. When asked how old he was, Paige’s answer was, “ ‘How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you was?”
The more concessions to age that people make, the older they will act and the older they will seem. Among these I would include The Decisive Seven:
1. Awareness of the importance of nutrition and exercise.
2. Pride in personal appearance.
3. Breadth and diversity of personal network.
4. Scope of friends and engagement in socializing.
5. Participation in learning opportunities and continuing education.
6. Attention to current events and important trends in human behavior.
7. Resilience in facing and overcoming setbacks.
It’s hard to make a meaningful effort on any of these fronts without faith in yourself. “Faith in oneself is the best and safest course,” Michelangelo maintained. He left his design for the dome of St. Peter’s unfinished when he died at the age of 88 in 1564. He remained unafraid of failure throughout his life, and this was decisive.
“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short,” Michelangelo believed, “but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”
Mackay’s Moral: Act the age you want to be, not the age
others expect.
“Apparently, fifty is the new unemployed.”
© The New Yorker Collection 2009 Leo Cullum from cartoonbank.com . All Rights Reserved.
Quickie—Moonlighting: The Wisdom of Having a Second Skill
In turbulent times and in an era where job and career changes are so prevalent, it pays to have multiple personal skills. It used to be that a person simply stuck to a single professional profile. Not any longer.
This pattern is abundantly clear in the world of professional sports. Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre, for example, was a broadcast-booth presence for the California Angels between manager jobs.
How many Metropolitan Opera chorus members worked as (singing) waiters until the breakthrough role finally arrived? How many Hollywood stars unloaded trucks or drew sodas while they performed, often uncredited, roles in B and even C films? In an article titled “Actors Moonlighting on Horror Flicks,” DVD columnist Michael H. Kleinschrodt points out that marquee stars like Casey Affleck, George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, and Halle Berry all worked on the scary screen.
When planning your moonlighting, it’s generally best to develop skills that have some relationship with each other, but not necessarily for professions that are likely to suffer in the same flat economic period.
In a U.S. News & World Report column, Karen Burns advises, “You have a job. Good news! But you don’t like the job. Or it doesn’t pay a living wage. Or it doesn’t offer health insurance. That’s bad news. The secret to successful moonlighting is simple: Job B needs to provide what Job A lacks.” She admits, “Long-term moonlighting can wear you down. But until the economy improves and/or you find that
Among the book’s remarkable findings:
• “Most age-related reductions in physical performance are avoidable and many are reversible.”
• “Exercise dramatically increases physical fitness, muscle size, and strength in older individuals.”
• “When it comes to sexual activity . . . chronological age itself is not the critical factor.”
• “The more frequent the [physical] exercise, the greater the benefit, but you don’t have to overdo it. Moderate exercise . . . [as measured in a major study] proved to be nearly as protective as vigorous exercise.”
• “While most people assume that genes play the dominant role, new research suggests that environment and lifestyle may in fact be more important in terms of the risk factors associated with aging.”
The authors also cite the famous African American baseball pitcher Satchel Paige who was still hurling from the mound after the age most big leaguers retire to read their press clippings and dust their trophies. When asked how old he was, Paige’s answer was, “ ‘How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you was?”
The more concessions to age that people make, the older they will act and the older they will seem. Among these I would include The Decisive Seven:
1. Awareness of the importance of nutrition and exercise.
2. Pride in personal appearance.
3. Breadth and diversity of personal network.
4. Scope of friends and engagement in socializing.
5. Participation in learning opportunities and continuing education.
6. Attention to current events and important trends in human behavior.
7. Resilience in facing and overcoming setbacks.
It’s hard to make a meaningful effort on any of these fronts without faith in yourself. “Faith in oneself is the best and safest course,” Michelangelo maintained. He left his design for the dome of St. Peter’s unfinished when he died at the age of 88 in 1564. He remained unafraid of failure throughout his life, and this was decisive.
“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short,” Michelangelo believed, “but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”
Mackay’s Moral: Act the age you want to be, not the age
others expect.
“Apparently, fifty is the new unemployed.”
© The New Yorker Collection 2009 Leo Cullum from cartoonbank.com . All Rights Reserved.
Quickie—Moonlighting: The Wisdom of Having a Second Skill
In turbulent times and in an era where job and career changes are so prevalent, it pays to have multiple personal skills. It used to be that a person simply stuck to a single professional profile. Not any longer.
This pattern is abundantly clear in the world of professional sports. Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre, for example, was a broadcast-booth presence for the California Angels between manager jobs.
How many Metropolitan Opera chorus members worked as (singing) waiters until the breakthrough role finally arrived? How many Hollywood stars unloaded trucks or drew sodas while they performed, often uncredited, roles in B and even C films? In an article titled “Actors Moonlighting on Horror Flicks,” DVD columnist Michael H. Kleinschrodt points out that marquee stars like Casey Affleck, George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, and Halle Berry all worked on the scary screen.
When planning your moonlighting, it’s generally best to develop skills that have some relationship with each other, but not necessarily for professions that are likely to suffer in the same flat economic period.
In a U.S. News & World Report column, Karen Burns advises, “You have a job. Good news! But you don’t like the job. Or it doesn’t pay a living wage. Or it doesn’t offer health insurance. That’s bad news. The secret to successful moonlighting is simple: Job B needs to provide what Job A lacks.” She admits, “Long-term moonlighting can wear you down. But until the economy improves and/or you find that
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