The mix of young and old is key

Another tendency that comes with age is the reluctance to think of new ways of doing things. You may have been the most innovative at some point in your life but you are now more rigid than ever with what has been working for you.

There is an African proverb that an old man can see farther into the distance while seated than a young man can see standing up. In short, it talks about wisdom that experience gives a person. A session with an old man can save you years of mistakes freeing up time to focus on growth.

Be it at work or at home, this mix of young and old is crucial. The young have better health, strength and are full of ideas. The best thing is that they are not bogged down by all the things that older people have to deal with. The older people are far better at patience and can offer advice on what has or hasn’t worked before. It is important that the old counsel and prepare the young so that they will be in a position to do so when they take over. The mix of young and old is key.

#team #teamwork #timemanagement #youth #maturity

Let’s say there are tasks to be done by three different people. Tell a three year old to wait for month and it is an eternity for them. Tell a ten year to wait for a year and it sounds like a century to them. Tell a fifty year old that it will take 5 years and he will tell you it is shorter than he expected. Time is relative and for most of us, we don’t understand it until it is too late. For the three year old, they feel that they have no time and they have to do it now while the fifty year old is patient enough to start slowly and spread it out over the whole period.

The window of time we have is actually short and limited; it is our perspective of it that changes as we grow older. Then there is the factor of age and health that comes into play. The fifty year old may have the patience to wait it out but he may not have the strength to do it.