Is 40 really the new 30? I’m about to find out!

Last week I turned 40, and I feel FUCKING great.

I remember turning 30. It was the day that I moved to New York. I’ll never forget sitting on the plane thinking about the journey ahead. I was so excited by the chance to live overseas, but it was a daunting prospect to be leaving friends and family to ultimately chase a professional dream. It feels like only yesterday that I landed there, checked into a rundown Airbnb in Chinatown and got to work.?

I lived in America for five years in my 30s (New York for three and then LA for two). I also got married to my best friend Rachael Tulloch . We moved to country Victoria. We got an amazing dog named Mr Bojangles to join our 13 year old cat Romeo. I continued to build UNIFIED Music Group and focused heavily on my physical, mental and spiritual health.

I’ve always taken myself pretty seriously. Even photos of me as a kid had me with a very intense look on my face – often reading, often thinking and not always laughing. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve remembered to have more fun, to laugh. A few years back, I even made a New Year’s resolution to be funnier!

I’m born on 29 February, meaning I’m a Leap Year Baby. As a kid I hated it. Imagine getting a birthday only every four years – and having a name like Jaddan! But as I got older, I learned to love my birthday and my name. It’s part of what made me feel unique – something my Mum was very big on, but it was hard to accept as a kid. Mum also always encouraged me to ‘stay young’. Even in recent years, Mum would still buy me Mickey Mouse paraphernalia to try to remind me of this important approach to life. ?

The music industry has certainly helped with this. Being around music most of my life is truly one of the great joys. Working with artists and team members and staying across new music and technology makes you constantly hungry to learn more about what is happening. It’s easy to say “I’m too old to understand this” or “Things have changed”, but the exciting part for me is acknowledging those two things, and also being curious and keen to learn.??

I blinked and now I’m 40, but I feel much better about where I am now than when I was turning 30. Although there was excitement about the unknown, it was also terrifying. I now feel content that I spent my 30s the way I did and I’m more focussed than ever to live the life I want to live.?

So what have I learned??

Things just keep on changing:

When I first started in music back in 2004, it was all about CDs. I hardly had email and I used a fax machine. To think 20 years later, all three of those things have changed is amazing and a great reminder that the next 20 years will likely bring similar, if not more, change. Change is great and it brings opportunities and the ability to remain engaged.?

During the Pandemic, I became very interested in tech. This was partly due to boredom, but it was equal parts a survival instinct. Change has been a constant in the music business and in the past the industry hasn’t always been great at it. So I decided to turn my attention to at least trying to understand what was happening. We invested in some amazing music tech companies and I used this to build my network and knowledge of what change could be coming. I’m no expert and I have no crystal ball, but while the fundamentals of music will never change when it comes to a great song or authentic talent, the way we consume and the way we access music will change.?

I feel we are at the cusp of another major shift in how people discover and listen to music. We have amazing platforms that allow us to listen to whatever we want, but there is a desire for fans to go deeper and experience more, and I am excited about where this can go to the benefit of artists and the fans.?

You’re only as old as you want to be:

I’m definitely not someone who’s trying to stay young for the sake of it. I like my grey hair, my herbal tea, my early nights (when I can get them). But I also love meeting new artists and new people entering our industry and learning about what is new and exciting. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my fair share of late nights – it’s the music business after all – but while living in New York in 2015, I made the decision that if I was going to survive this crazy world of travel and endless work, that late nights of drinking and eating poorly weren’t going to get me where I wanted to be. It was around this time I really got deep into yoga and started to move towards a vegetarian diet. I still drink and I’m not perfect, but wellness has become a huge part of my life as I attempt to avoid burn out and ultimately thrive.

Knowing everything is the worst place to be:?

Once you know everything, you stop learning. And once you stop learning, you become irrelevant. I often find myself not knowing the answer when I feel like I should. I’m not great in these situations, but I’m working hard at being able to say “I don’t know”. I want to make it normal for myself and for others to know that it’s ok to not have the answer. I’ve always been curious to learn and as someone that’s mostly self taught in business, I’ve made it my business to continue to learn and grow – whether it’s reading books by authors like Jim Collins, Seth Godin, Tim Ferris, or listening to podcasts, featuring interviews with similar people. A couple of years ago though, I did find that I was starting to burn out on content overload and completely stopped listening to this kind of content. Don’t get me wrong, these guys are amazing, but it just started to feel very repetitive.

Recently I’ve come back to it via podcasts such as Acquired and Founders. Both these podcasts study businesses and founders and ultimately explain their story and how they achieved what they have. I’ve found this informative and inspirational, and for now this is where I’m getting a lot of juice. A founders podcast about Estée Lauder blew my mind, and reminded me that I get inspiration from learning about how other people have done it and what drove them to follow their dreams.?

We don't live forever and time flies:?

They say when you get older, time speeds up. Maybe it's because we’re busier, or because we are no longer surprised by change, but at the very least it feels like time is flying. This then means that before I know it I’ll be 50, then 60 and then who knows. We don’t live forever, and we can't take what we have once we’re gone. So it’s important to take time to live and love and enjoy the time that we have.?

Last year I lost my mother and this was a huge reminder of how precious life is. Work is obviously so important to me, but at the end of the day, it’s not the be all and end all. For me, spending time with my wife Rachael on our property in regional Victoria is my priority. This is where I get so much inspiration and energy and feel connected. I’m nowhere near done being in the city or moving around the world, but I do know those days aren’t forever, and eventually I know where I want to be.

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