As dear old Dad says, “If you’re not listening, you’re not learning. And, if you’re not learning, you’re not living.” How many of us – in midlife or beyond – have stopped listening or learning?
I’ve come to realize that our increased longevity deserves an alternative form of adult learning. It’s one thing to learn software development in your thirties. It’s a very different thing to hone your soft skills (what I now call “durable skills”) development in your fifties. And, developing the skill set to master life’s transitions is an essential talent in this topsy-turvy world.
Longlife learning isn’t about certificates and tool kits. It’s about shifting one’s mindset about aging so that you can live a life as deep as it is long. This means understanding the social science landscape on aging whether it’s the U-curve of happiness, why the maturing brain becomes better at connecting the dots, or how emotional intelligence grows with each passing decade. At MEA, we’ve found that longlife learning helps people shift their mindset on aging which Yale professor Becca Levy has proven can add seven and a half years to life—happy and productive years enjoying the unexpected pleasures of aging.
I can tell you at the precipice of 64 years old, how, what, and why I learn is very different than when I was 32. And, yet, the education establishment thinks that older people want to fill a pail and not light a fire. Four years ago, I published a white paper with an MEA alum, Dr. Ingo Rauth, called “The Emergence of Longlife Learning,” which I think some of you geeks might appreciate.
Tomorrow, I’ll be chatting with MEA faculty member Marc Freedman who is the founding Faculty Director of the Experienced Leaders Initiative (ELI) at the Yale School of Management, a program that is focused on both lifelong and longlife learning much like many of the Nexel Collaborative programs.
REGISTER NOW for Reimagining Your Next Chapter: A Fireside Chat with Marc Freedman of ELI and Chip Conley of MEA, August 22, 1pm ET. Attendance is free but registration is required.
-Chip
