[originally published on Facebook December 13, 2019]

Lessons from Old Men about Success

I’ve been sick the last couple of weeks, and watching a lot of documentaries on famous people (men, really) — Hugh Hefner, Steven Spielberg, Arthur Miller, The Grateful Dead.

What I’ve learned, in no particular order:

1. To succeed at a high level in any pursuit seems to require a long-term, single-minded output of effort that is not conducive to healthy relationships with spouses/partners or children.

My take— If that’s the tradeoff, I prefer healthy relationships.

2. These men were sometimes afraid, sometimes screwed up big time along the way, and kept going anyway.

My take— keep going, it’s going to be ok no matter what.

3. The 50s were a conformist, repressed time in the US, and the 60’s and 70’s were incredibly violent.

My take— When I worry that the world is more shit than it’s ever been, remind myself that that’s probably not true. (Exception for climate change — then I resort to lessons learned from psychedelics)

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