According to a recent Stanford Medical study on human aging, we do not age in a straight line, instead our bodies experience a “massive biomolecular shift” around age 44 and 60.
As a 44-year-old, I can attest to this massive biomolecular shift (ugh).
Additionally, as you may know, when you start to feel the aging process, it often inspires a reflection on your life’s decisions, your relationships, and your impermanence.
This recognition of the aging process can drive people in many emotional directions, but two common paths are: 1) existential crisis and 2) refocusing on what matters.
Path #1 is well trod; we all know individuals who have chosen that route.
However, I want to highlight a nuance specific to path #2 that I’ve seen with my family clients.
We all know family business leaders (you may be one of them) who spend most of their lives investing their time and energy into building their enterprise; a noble endeavor, to be sure. However, when they come to that undeniable recognition that they will not live forever, many decide to assert the same enthusiasm and dedication they had for their business toward those things they’ve under-invested in for years, which is often family and friends.
Unfortunately, investments compound over time; you can’t make up for lost interest.
Family and friends are investments that require attention, you can’t set them aside and just pick them back up when they are convenient. If you don’t invest time and attention in those you care about now, they will drift away and gravitate toward others who will give them what they need.
So, while your enterprise may be significant, how are your relationship returns?
Do you invest your time and energy in your closest relationships as much as you do your business? What’s your strategy for building a strong portfolio of relationships?
"The good life is built with good relationships."
<br/><span class="body-2 opacity-80" style="padding-top:0.75rem">~ Robert Waldinger (Chair, Harvard study on adult aging)</span>
"Well-being cannot exist just in our own head. Well-being is a combination of feeling good as well as having meaning, good relationships, and accomplishment."
<br/><span class="body-2 opacity-80">~ Martin Seligman</span>
"Through my research, I found that vulnerability is the glue that holds relationships together. It’s the magic sauce."
<br/><span class="body-2 opacity-80">~ Brene Brown</span>
