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If you ever feel like you've had crossroads in your career or in life, it's pretty common

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really. So I really wanted to talk about how we navigate that, particularly as we get to retirement

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age. So I wanted to start by having a look at Arthur Brooks' book from Strength to Strength,

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and also a video. Because I've just been watching Joe Koons' YouTube review of the book,

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which I really enjoyed. Joe's got a really unique perspective on the book, because he actually

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lived it. He went from a pretty high-performing engineering type background to a YouTuber,

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quite a stack really. So he doesn't just talk about it, he actually has made a shift himself,

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which gives him some proper insight into this. And he ties the whole thing back to the book

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that talks about fluid intelligence versus crystallized intelligence. Sounds a bit strange,

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but actually when you break it down, it does make a lot of sense. So let's start by having a look

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at what is fluid intelligence. So to start with, we'll take the peak at different times in our

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lives. And fluid intelligence is that quick, sharp, adaptive thinking that we do when we're a bit

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younger. It's the kind that helps you solve problems on the fly and innovate. It's what a lot

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of us use to climb the ladder from a learned perspective. Joe talked a lot about his engineering

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career. That's exactly what drove him. A lot of people expect that from high-performing people

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in high-performing careers. Many of us like that idea of the young entrepreneur pulling all-nighters

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and corner with inhibiting ideas for their new business. Well, you know, this kind of energy

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and this kind of thinking naturally tends to decline between the age of 35 and 50. So our brains

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at this point start to really, I wouldn't say slow down, they shift gears into a different way of

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thinking. So you fluid intelligence by starting to decrease crystallized intelligence, not to

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rewrap up this plot. So what crystallized intelligence will think wisdom and experience?

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It's less about achieving things on your own and more about joining the dots with other people.

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Using your experience to guide others could be mentoring or teaching or just sharing your

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insights with other people. Crystallized intelligence peaks much later in life, like well into our

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70s actually. So rather than seeing aging as a decline, we can see it as a whole new ability,

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new way to tap into this new strength that comes to us between the age of 35 and 70 and peaks in

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our 70s. So in this video, Joe talks about jumping curbs, which I think is really important.

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So if you tried to hold onto your fluid intelligence past its prime, it really came back fire on you.

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It can leave you feeling stuck in past glory and deflated. It's like trying to squeeze on that old

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suit that doesn't fit anymore. Now think of that footballer who dropped the few divisions. I was no

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lover getting the same glory was when he was in the premiership. Eventually something has to give,

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it can be really difficult to let go, particularly because society often kind of prizes and values

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you based on them skills. So a really interesting example of that, and it's Charles Darwin. Yeah,

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come back at it. So Charles Darwin during his younger days was really productive, very high

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profile prolific writer, really re struggled as he got into his 50s to have the same kind of impact.

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Now Joe decided to retire at 54. This was like the peak of his engineering career. People thought he

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was mad at the time. But he realized he wasn't getting that same kind of buzz as the work anymore.

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We was you get it to start creating something different, something more aligned to crystallized

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intelligence. Joe is a great example of how embracing crystallized intelligence can open up a whole

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new chapter for you in life. But that's got to come with self awareness, knowing in ourselves

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when we need to jump between the curves. And that's a difficult thing to do. And the book,

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it references something quite interesting, a reverse book at least. So instead of putting

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together a list of all the things that we want to achieve in life, we take a critical look at that

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list, and start to take things off, things that don't really align with our new way of thinking

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on new crystallized intelligence lifestyle. Does the item on the list bring me last enjoy?

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Does it align with my own ethos? I like to think about decluttering your goals, really.

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If there's anything on the list that's about ego or self validation, it's gone. Things on that list

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need to resonate with meaning, with purpose. So what's off about moving from accomplishments to

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relationships and community and family and definitely starting them creative activities

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we became too busy for when we were just chasing the accomplishments. I mean, I need to think about

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these things myself. I've got a huge bucket list of places in the world where I don't see

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any visit. And I do need to think, are some of these accomplishments, or are they really about

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finding deeper meaning and making better connections in life? That's the power I think of a reverse

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bucket list. It does make you assess what a board is in your head. What fulfills us definitely changes

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as we get older. It changes over time. Redefining success on your own terms can be pretty scary.

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It's a big change. It's not about slowing down or giving up. It's about evolving and growing and

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finding deeper meaning in your activities. So I'll have to think about where you are on the

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intelligence curve. So you, at that point where you need to make the jump, have you made the jump

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already? Have you got any insights you can share in the comments so other people can learn from them?

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Or maybe are you stuck on the fluid intelligence wave chasing

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those accomplishments that no longer hang at ring with the same value they used to when you're

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younger? Joe in his video described some of the difficulties he had when he went through this

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process and the expectations on others. It's as if we're meant to continue to climb that ladder to

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stay on that hamster wheel. Eventually, you're going to jump the curve, whether you're ready or not.

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So it's best to be ready for it, plan for it and decide if it's the right time for you.

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If we jump too late, we can end up becoming disillusioned with a lot of doing and the test

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you've burned out trying to keep up. Ageing deforms a transformation not a decline. So what can we do?

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What's the practical steps other than written the book of course? Well, Joe talked about mentorship

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and he said that during his career, that was the most fulfilling thing that he did.

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Ruin for you? Have you had the opportunity to cement people during your career? Did you enjoy it?

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Was there something you enjoyed doing? I did. I always enjoyed sharing my knowledge and experience

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with the younger generation. We've all got something to offer, but important that we also

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focus on relationships. The real important things are the real things that make life worth living,

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are the people in our lives, they are for everyone. It goes back to your reverse bucket list again,

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are the things on there, you know, climbing a mountain or visiting a waterfall when actually

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you could replace them with spending more time with elder children or grandchildren,

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things that really help you build connections and will have much more lasting memories.

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Well, another factor to think about is legacy. There's a sweet spot between meeting your ambitions

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going forward, but also looking for deeper meaning and deeper directions. It's about

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realizing that our greatest achievements are probably still ahead of us. The second half of our lives

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can be either more meaningful and ambitious, exciting and the first half. And this won't be

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a lonely journey in this second half because it's about working with others. It's about taking other

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people with you. It sort of has the most exciting destinations that those we discover when we're

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focused on something else, something bigger than ourselves. In this video, Joe asked if we could

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write our own eulogies. What would people say about us? What would you want them to say about you?

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I think there's a great exercise to write your own eulogy and see for yourself what's really

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important for you at this stage in your life. And also, by the time we do pass on, what would we

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like to achieve? What does the second half of our life look like in terms of catching up with what

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we've gone so far? What would like that eulogy to say? Do you want to remember for the accomplishments

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you made or would you prefer to be remembered for what you passed on for the connections you made?

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So I'll leave you with two tasks. First, rewrite your book at least secondly,

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check in on your eulogy, write yourself a eulogy, let me know if it helps. Thanks for listening

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and I'll see you on the next one. Don't forget to buy the book and also to check in Joe's YouTube

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channel. It's a cracker. Cheers.