If anyone says âIâm age XX and I donât know if Iâm too old to be doing YYâ they are setting themselves up with a reason for failure before they begin. Whatever XX is and whatever YY is they betray all the people aged XX who are very capable of YY by telling the world that being age XX is a reason why someone cannot do activity YY.
There is a reason why countries have age-discrimination legislation and having age as a reason for lack of competence is part of it.
Trump is 71 years old and while many of us may doubt many of his abilities, I would never ascribe his age as a reason for any difficulties that he has. Teresa May is 60 years old and similarly I would say any difficulties she has I would not put down to age.
So why do people think itâs OK to put forward age as a reason for self-doubt so easily and make it more difficult for everyone else at whatever age?
The age-discrimination thing exists at all extremes of the spectrum. We have very bright and capable children founding companies before they leave school and I have an elderly relative, who at 100 is just as bright mentally as I ever remember.
So as people get older it may be more likely that their capabilities may be waning, but giving age as a reason makes the life of capable people more difficult. I doubt Donald Trump will be expressing doubt because of his age anytime soon, nor Stephen Hawking (75), or Jeremy Corbyn (68).
So when you see someone older doing a job, do you imagine they are ready to be offering up excuses for their problems because of their age or do they find adapting to new technology and thinking? Imagine the everyday changes they will have adapted to in the same way that everyone else does.
Donât get me wrong, age does affect some people, but the truth is that people can be looking for a change as they get older, they can be subject to heath issues at any age.
I remember once when I was very young, an engineer arriving to fix a computer I thought he was ancient and how could he possibly do that work. He was 40. How stupid was I?
I will step away from my soap box. Martin may or may not be able to be a great web designer, but his age wonât be the reason for his success, or lack of success. They say similar things about developers not being able to design ( right side vs. left side of the brain ) but they conveniently forget about Leonardo ( Da Vinci, not the turtle ). The Williams Sisters and Roger Federer seem to have forgotten the age thing too.
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