How do we think about our upcoming irrelevance?
(This is from Edition 54 of The Upleveler, our weekly smartletter)
Arthur C. Brooks is an American social scientist and former musician. In July 2019, his essay "Your Professional Decline Is Coming (Much) Sooner Than You Think" became a much shared article, touching a nerve among many across ages.
It's a topic that resonates with CTQ's mission of helping teams and individuals upleveling for future relevance. If you haven't read it yet, here's a summary. We also include our general recipe for dealing with any looming threat of 'irrelevance'.
The key takeaways from the piece:
Studies show the happiness of many adults declines between their 30s-early 50s and then rises again till their 70s.
Many professionals experience a professional decline, especially if their work depends on 'Fluid Intelligence' (which is "the ability to reason, analyze, and solve novel problems"). This is accompanied by a feeling of irrelevance. Sportsmen, innovators, scientists, poets are examples.
High performers, especially who achieve a lot early in life, are especially prone to this feeling, probably due to the sharp contrast.
Professional decline starts earlier than you expect. Some professions more than others.
Work that relies on "Crystallized Intelligence" (the ability to use knowledge gained in the past) is less likely to get irrelevant early. Teachers and Historians are an example.
The author finds hope in the Hindu model of the four 'ashramas' - especially, the stage of Vanaprastha which helps one deal with one's growing obsolescence. He's trying to "give up" things than chase them.
Pursue "Eulogy Virtues" (what they will say about you when you are gone) instead of "Resume Virtues" (which rely on comparison to others).
The author's roadmap: JUMP (walk away just before it's time and they push you out), SERVE (what can you do for others?), WORSHIP (figure out what works for you to make work greater than the mundane), and CONNECT (relationships make you happier, so cultivate them).
[Standard warning: everything you read in such articles must be taken with a pinch of salt, as they rely on studies that may not be fully replicated, anecdotes, outliers and personal views]
It's fair to say that like death and taxes, irrelevance comes to us all - the speed and nature may differ. So what can we do to navigate, evolve, respond, and stave it off?
Here are our recommendations:
Add teaching, writing, and synthesizing ideas to your quiver. Get the most out of your 'crystallized intelligence'
Keep adding timeless as well as "new but here to stay" knowledge. Your curiosity diet and ability to learn will need to be in top gear.
Invest in routines and habits that bring 'compounded' benefits: getting to know interesting people, consuming the right information, expressing your thoughts in durable digital forms, and building environments that sustain these routines.
Anticipate the signs of change. Reflect regularly. Talk to people. Read.
Identify what value, however small, you bring to the world. Build on that.
Experiment with and prototype new ideas for yourself. To reduce the need for drastic change, keep modifying yourself by regularly running small experiments.
Don't fall prey to the "I don't have time" fallacy. Spend 10-20% of your time to work on the 'future' today. Your 'present' may become less optimal, but you'll survive to fight another day.
Cultivate more playfulness and randomness.
What would you add to this? And if you had the inclination to read the 6664 words in the article but didn't muster the effort needed to do that, consider building your reading muscle with us.
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