Vintage typewriter or smartphone?

Both have value and relevance but it’s hard to argue in 2024 that they have equal relevance.

What about you?

For many people, ageism is experienced first in the workplace and arises, in part, because the older you get the less up-to-date you may be perceived to be. But really, how often is this perception true? Careers advance and are sustained by blending valuable experience with openness to change and new ways of doing things. It’s hard to imagine a successful person of any age in any job these days who doesn’t, to some degree, lean into learning and innovation.

And why would that stop when we exit our careers?

For a growing number of people, it doesn’t. As definitions of so-called “retirement” evolve away from the traditional sense of a time of life when we go out to pasture, we see that the elements of staying relevant as a person in society are not so different than what we know contributes to happiness and longevity. Consider the following:

1. A sense of purpose provides the reason to stay in the game, whichever game it is that allows us to pursue our purpose. Being “on purpose” pushes us to accept new challenges and keep stretching.

2. Continuing to intentionally learn and grow means we stay up to date in areas that interest us, and potentially stay open to personal change when we encounter diversity of thought. As a result, we stay relevant with, and able to contribute to, what’s going on around us.

3. Research tells us that a supportive relationship universe is key to a happy life. If we’re learning and growing ie., we’ve “got it going on”, we make ourselves more interesting to others and maintaining and developing good relationships is easier.

4. Feeling relevant is partly knowing you matter to the people in your life. In return, they need to know they matter to you, so the other side of good relationships is being interested enough in others to truly listen to them with empathy and curiosity – another learning opportunity.

5. Staying current with things like helpful technologies (yes, even if tech isn’t your jam), allows us to stay self-sufficient on many fronts while inviting innovative solutions to support us when the going gets harder.

Bottom line? You get to decide.

Becoming less relevant or appearing to be past your before date, isn’t something that happens in an instant or on a specific birthday. It’s a slow slide that anyone can find themselves on if they’re not intentional about avoiding it. It takes effort and embracing a regular step out of your box to see what’s out there that’s interesting, inspiring, and enlivening. If you keep doing the work, your best date will always be a future date.

So, let’s prove the age bias groundless while living our best lives by seeking ways to stay relevant.