From Zero to Sixty...

I'm not sure if it's meaningful to write about turning sixty, but since I am rapidly approaching that day I'm giving it some thought for the hell of it. After all, this is a time when everyone seems concerned about their legacy—Bush and Rumsfeld for example, and both are trying to rewrite history to attain a favorable view.
Alas, I don't have the luxury of living in the public eye. My secrets stay where they've been since they entered closet or can.

Of course, we're familiar with seeing our lives in terms of milestones: first steps, first date, first car, first war, whatever... After a while there aren't that many "firsts" anymore, as the initial excitement about fulfilling a life's promise turns to family, duty, work, honing one's skills, surviving tax time, etc., before life's last stages become too dilapidating to attribute any glorious accolades to.
"He remained sharp until the end," may be the best one can hope for.

However, right this moment it appears that sixty is a sweet spot from where one should be able to cast a mild glance backwards while at the same time eyeing the future without the kind of anxiety I felt for example at sixteen, when turning 21 equaled entering the promised land.
At sixty, being alive (something my father did not accomplish) is a success in itself from a very basic viewpoint. So far, so good. I'm breathing for all that it's worth. But there's still a road ahead, even if it's generally not regarded as long or promising as the one already traveled.
Yet, sixty isn't the beginning of the end, unless you believe it is.
To me, the number is representing an opportunity to take the pulse of my life. Life has to be about something. But everything, be they people, things, jobs, or money—to name a few—are elements outside of myself and prone to influences over which I can only pretend to have control.

I guess, what counts the most is, what have I learned, if anything?

Learning is an awkward process. It's based on failures and on finding ways to overcome them. As such it took me the greater part of my life to begin to appreciate failure as an indicator of progress. I've tormented myself on occasions, wallowed in regrets when things didn't turn out as I had hoped. And every time hindsight taught me that it had been for the better. That there were important lessons harvested from failure. Mistakes are a must and we should understand that, but few do in our reward-and-punish society. Without mistakes there's no analysis, no change of plan, no new direction. No improvement.

So, at sixty I can safely acknowledge that I've become pretty good a failing.
However, to avoid becoming too good at it I had to come up with a remedy. Finally I pondered upon a simple slogan which for me sums it up perfectly: Every decision, one of vision.

It sounds simple, but like all mantras just mumbling it is not enough. It takes effort to formulate a vision, but when it's decision time at least you have a tool in hand to measure its validity.
Making every decision one of vision is helping me understand where I'm going and it can even be the mechanism that helps me get there as I no longer have to concern myself with extraneous aspects and influences that lead me astray.
Unfortunately, I was only able to formulate this vehicle for my every day judgments a few years ago. Still, long enough to test it. I'd say that's my #1 insight.

Another thing I've been working on is a possible solution for a problem that we all seem to have: horrible time management. I don't mean the schedule you keep if you work for a boss. I'm talking about dividing your time between catching up with your tasks and accomplishing your goals.
I've noticed that we usually spend most of our time in the past, catching up with yesterdays' tasks, then put off accomplishing our goals because we've run out of time, energy, or are too drunk, to be motivated. We may even think that we've actually accomplished something. If you work for a boss that may be true, but you've done it in the service of another person or institution. You may not have helped accomplish anything for yourself. For that reason I'm a big proponent of building your own business, as it's all about tomorrow.

Now, it's not easy to start the day with dedicating time to your lofty ideals when you have pressing tasks waiting, but without allotting substantial time to realizing your dreams they will remain just that: dreams.
Contrary to popular belief, dreams are hard work. They need consistent attention if they are to become reality. To that end I try to dedicate a portion of my productive hours every day to accomplishing my goals.
Big deal, you may say, but until it entered my consciousness my activities were all over the place. Keep in mind that if you expect your dream to come true 100% that you probably can't accomplish that by dedicating 10% of your time to it. Still, 10% is better than nothing.
If I had to formulate my fantastic insight #2, it would sound something like this: Spend every day x% of your productive time catching up with ongoing tasks, then spend x% on accomplishing goals. Currently I am at 60/40 with my time. My aim is to switch those numbers around. If I can, that means I'm spending more time in the present than in the past.

Now, surely I must've learned something more in sixty years than that, and I have, so if you want more, here's #3:

"Always keep people wanting more."