Chasing “Yet.” Please tell me you haven’t stopped.
My son got me a Samsung tablet for my 79th birthday last month. Probably out of sympathy. Really an amazing surprise considering he’s endured 44 years of my personality.
It’s a great gift because it’s an upgrade from my cell phone as a feed for my large appetite for YouTube and other video podcasts to overcome the boredom of my daily encounters with the treadmill and upright bike.
I’ve gotten into Matthew McConaughey (MM) lately. I know, I’m late for that party. He’s been “hot” on the podcast and speaking circuit for a while judging from the number of his YouTube videos. It may have been the straightforward truth he spoke at the commencement speech at the University of Houston that kick-started all this. It’s worth a watch and a listen.
It’s hard not to like him as an actor. I find it easy to like him even more as a “normal” homo sapien who seems to have avoided the Hollywood varnish/veneer and gotten down to thinking deeply about and sorting out really meaningful life issues – and sharing them for our consumption and benefit.
I’ve also been deep into the “gospel according to Seth Godin” for the last year or so. Seth is considered the master of marketing and goes against the grain on conventional thinking about most everything, especially about meaningful success and achievement.
When I hear a concept from the mouths of both Godin and MM, stated slightly differently, my radar goes up.
Time to pay attention.
Chasing “yet”
MM calls it “chasing yet.” It’s a guiding principle in his life: that he’ll go to his grave “chasing yet.” As in, I’m not “there yet” but I’m moving in that direction knowing that I’ll never get “there” completely. It’s a fundamental tenet of mastery. Never abandoning the process, not focusing on outcomes. Finding joy in a daily journey tethered to his uniqueness.
Godin, in his latest, and best, book (#19 or #20, I forget which) “The Practice: Shipping Creative Work”, takes the same line in different words, exposing the principle of “so far” and “not yet.” As in (from “The Practice”):
“You haven’t reached your goals (so far). You’re not as good at your skill as you want to be (not yet).
You are struggling to find the courage to create (so far).
This is fabulous news.
Persistent and consistent effort over time can yield results.
“So far” and “not yet” are the foundations of every successful journey.”
Retirement and “chasing yet.”
OK, I guess you knew I was going here.
Retirement suppresses “chasing yet.”
I wrote two weeks ago about not giving up on our “unrepeatable uniqueness”, about not ignoring those inborn childhood “inclinations.” About considering the hours already accumulated against that 10,000 hours that may define our mastery. About not drinking the cultural Koolaid that says it’s time to shut all that down and just “enjoy life” with the inference that the enjoyment is to be found in ending the chase.
“Chasing yet” puts another layer on the invalidation of traditional retirement as the way to finish out.
Now, I admit, I’ve not heard either MM or Godin comment on the concept of retirement. But I’ll take any bets that say they both are retirement advocates. I don’t think there is room in their mindsets for that dissonance.
Why does Warren Buffett still show up every morning at the office and read financial reports and newspapers five hours a day?
Why does William Shatner, at 88, still perform, travel the world, cut C&W albums, live life like his hair is on fire.
They, along with a growing cohort, all disdain retirement. They are still “chasing yet” finding joy in a journey without concern for the outcomes.
What’s your “yet?”
If you are retired, can you resurrect it?
If you are planning retirement, where does it fit in your non-financial retirement plan? Or does it exist at all?
How far back in your neural circuitry have you allowed your uniqueness and inclinations to retreat in favor of an unnatural concept that goes against our very biology.
We need you to be “more peculiar.”
One of the more unusual and refreshing concepts that Seth Godin touts is to increase your peculiarity. That thought terrifies my cohort and immediate family as I push the limits there already. But Godin is simply saying that your peculiarity is your uniqueness and that it deserves to be deepened and shared.
Your peculiarity may be – probably is – your “yet.”
My peculiarity is writing something every day because that’s how I’m currently “chasing yet” knowing that I’ll never be the best writer and that lots of folks won’t like what I say and that all that is OK.
It’s a goalless “yet” and the outcomes defy definition. But the journey produces the joy. Reassurance and reliance on outcomes deny the joy.
Our third age, our “back nine” is the time to let our peculiarity flourish. We are called to not deny others the benefit.
What is your “peculiarity?” Are you “chasing yet?” Please share your thoughts – leave a comment below. If you haven’t, you can join our growing list of readers at www.makeagingwork.com. Join the tribe – and bring a friend with you.
For me, retirement creates a HUGE opportunity for my “yet(s).” My career was fabulous and I loved what I did most of the time, but it was only one focus. (For me, it was a deep focus on corporate finance.) That meant there were lots of things I didn’t get to do, “yet.” Being deliberate and planning for my retirement allowed me to focus my Third Act on all of the things I hadn’t gotten to, yet. I created goals around purpose, connections, wellness and, of course, FUN! I realized I had as much time left to realize some of those goals as I had spent on my journey in corporate finance. I absolutely agree with you (and MM and Seth) that it’s all about the journey and you will never achieve everything there is to achieve on any given path, but how fun to “take the back roads” in your retirement and find new signposts to journey toward! Especially if those are signposts you saw earlier in life when you chose to ignore them and pursue others.
Thank you for your post! It’s encouraging to find others out there who are sill journeying in their Third Act!
My wife and I have always been busy. She grew up on a wilderness farm, nearest neighbour on 1 side 2 miles, the other 5 miles. and 1 through the woods, 3 miles. Always something to do. She worked summers starting at age17 in a Provincial Sanitarium, then continued there, and other hospitals as an Executive Secretary. and manager of a group Doctor’s office. Hobbies were as captain of a bowling team, Manager of Credit Union, Sewing most of her own clothes, and much for our family of five. a few years in the reserve army, Taught upholstery in night school, and we did upholstery in our spare time.
I started a mail and grocery delivery at age 6 to Senior’s, worked in a garage part time, Army Cadets and Track sports locally and nationally .Helped on local farms. Janitor of our church, scouts, and choir, and three years in the pulpit once a month.
My first full time job was as a |Propane gas tech, then as Service Manager of a larger company, 38 years in the Reserve Army then Lab tech at an Agriculture Research Station for 31 years Overlapping, of course. Fun was canoeing, fishing and family camping all over Eastern North America weekends and summer vacations. New England and the Maritime provinces, Ontario and Quebec. after the kids left home, Wilderness hiking and canoeing was added, guiding friends and interested people for weekends and sometimes longer trips.We both were leaders in Senior’s groups at the Local and Provincial, and directors at the National level
Strokes, and the Covid problem has slowed us down, but the mind is still dreaming.
My “yet” is getting my FRESH COURAGE in Retirement book published, taking a trip to New Zealand, Denmark and Alaska, more walking/hiking, having global clients and, like you, helping 10% of the Boomers find their purpose and live from their Essence, contributing their peculiarity to the good of their community. Beings that nearly 20% of Boomers, like myself, didn’t have children, this topic is especially poignant because they don’t have children/grandchildren events & interests filling their calendar. Let’s help them by asking about their “yets” and contributing from their peculiarity!
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