In Consideration of Betty White... Why Stop Doing What You Are Good At?

(Please Note: This is a Special Edition, albeit somewhat short and without a guest. The regular Newsletter will return next week.)

I have always been a fan of Betty White. I also know of articles in great abundance honoring her after passing away on 12/31/2021. Her passing was just another kick in the haunches from 2021 and a reminder that even Betty was mortal. I will leave her 8 decades of unique and skilled contributions to the world of art and entertainment for others to dissect. I loved her as an artist, an animal activist, and a person, but I also looked at her as a unicorn. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe she was just ahead of her time.

Age fueled Betty White. Her talents and her knack of perfect timing was finely honed over decades, not just years. She never had to sprint to a line, she instinctually knew her timing from an uncanny ability to tell stories. She was also professional and diligent in her rehearsal for stage and screen performances. She was a team player, but Betty remained the impromptu queen to the very end - and made the entire team look better for it.

So, why am I writing about Betty White on LinkedIn? Because she is celluloid proof that age does not need to diminish your contributions. She was the proverbial fine wine that continued to get better with age. Betty White didn't just meet expectations, she took a good script and made it great. Betty loved her work and while her last IMDB credit was in 2019 at the age of 97, she continued to work on her 100th Birthday Celebration until she passed away, merely a few weeks shy of that Centennial Birthday at the age of 99.

Her abilities continually transcended the traditional age limitations posed by societal norms. In the beginning, "The Golden Girls," actual age of the entire cast ranged from 53 to 63 in age, with their characters being in their mid-50's to mid-80's. They pulled it off with aplumb. Oddly, you can find many of those characters, who were in their mid-50's, looking and acting like people in their 80's routinely do today. Attribute that to modern medicine, evolutionary jump or whatever reason peaks your interest. People are living longer at a higher quality of life than ever. Therefore, we can perform at a higher rate longer than ever. I might add, our economy will depend upon the fact that one must follow the other.

What did Betty think of growing older? Here was her response to that question from People Magazine about 8 years ago, “Everybody spoils you like mad and they treat you with such respect because you’re old. Little do they know, you haven’t changed. You haven’t changed in [the brain]. You’re just 90 every place else. Now that I’m 91, as opposed to being 90, I’m much wiser. I’m much more aware and I’m?much?sexier.”?Indeed.

Living longer... that sounds positive. However, who is going to pay for that potential increase of 10, 20, or even 30 extra years? When we were much younger, we were told that we would live to be around 71 or 72 years after retiring at 65. If you are 60 today, you are expected to live to about 84, depending on the source. Each year, that increases by another 2.6% Do you have enough saved for this inevitability of living longer? Maybe to 99? Do you trust Social Security will continue to pay as much as they currently profess? Do your millennial children have enough to support you as they struggle to pay their student loans? Are you playing the lottery? Investing in Crypto? What is your plan? Many of us plan to work until we are 70 or 75. I plan to pay for retirement myself and work until at least 70. Pretty feeble compared to Betty, but we are only human!

The fortuitous fact is while we are getting older, we are also finding increasing ways to keep our minds razor sharp. If I remember to do so... I take Prevagen every day to keep my memory whetted (yes, there is intended humor in that line). I learn new words from apps. I take online classes. I try to be - and I enjoy being, a sponge. The results? My wife says I am as sharp as a button and cute as a tack... but, that is another story.

I am not the only one keeping up with this growing information continuum of knowledge. Most of us try to keep our minds sharp. Frankly, many of us have seen what happens when our parents decline from a cognizant-oriented perspective, be it Alzheimer's, Dementia, or other conditions that diminish our ability to perform, to think, and in the end, to communicate. It is devastating. Glen Campbell wrote a heart-wrenching song before he lapsed away from a battle with Alzheimer's called, "I 'm Not Going to Miss You." Poignant, sad. Check it out. However, we are not there yet.

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,?But I have promises to keep,?And miles to go before I sleep,?And miles to go before I sleep." - Robert Frost

We are like Betty. We are also like Frost. We fly on the wings of our vested knowledge, our Chutzpah, our conquers, our defeats, wisdom obtained, our aspirations and our accumulated goals. We are also limited by finite existence, but still with infinite aspirations. We are not on this earth forever - which is why we increasingly feel a need to be productive, to give more and to achieve goals. We feel a desire to win, and show others how to accomplish the same. Passing the torch is engrained in our DNA. It is how we got here and how we learned. It is transactional along the way, but in the end it is survival of the species that motivates. Plan as if you will live to be 99. Try to make a difference in the interim. Leave your mark. Continue to move forward. Do not stop. Be like Betty. Be like Frost.

There are plenty of Betty Whites out there in every industry and for every position. If I were you, I would hire them.