You are a New York Times best selling author and the “proud father” of seven popular books - what inspired you to write Learning to Love Midlife, and why do you think this message is so critical at this moment?

As we’re living longer, midlife is stretching longer, but it’s a life stage that gets no respect. I believe midlife doesn’t have to be a crisis, but can be a chrysalis; a time of deep transformation when you let go of the first half of adulthood. Given the escalating midlife suicide rates, I think it’s essential that we help people see the upside of midlife and beyond. That’s why the subtitle of my book is “12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better With Age.”

You often talk about "midlife" being the start of a new chapter rather than a decline. How do you suggest people shift their mindset to embrace this perspective?

The U-curve of happiness research has shown that after a long, slow decline in life satisfaction that lasts from our early 20s till about 50, we get happier with each decade after that. Becca Levy from Yale has shown that when we shift our mindset on ageing in midlife from a negative to a positive, we gain 7.5 years of additional longevity which is more efficacious than stopping smoking or starting to exercise in midlife. But, there are very few “pro-ageing” messages out there in the world.

Could you tell us about the Modern Elder Academy you founded in 2018, and what role did it play in the writing and research for this book?

With two campuses - one in Baja, Mexico and the other in Santa Fe, New Mexico - and a variety of online programs, MEA is the world’s first midlife wisdom school dedicated to helping people in their 40s, 50s and 60s (although we’ve had people as young as 25 and as old as 91 join us) reimagine and repurpose themselves. With 5,500 graduates from 50 countries and 58 regional chapters around the world, I’ve been able to witness the value of “long life learning”—how to help people create a life that’s as deep and meaningful as it is long. You get a deep sense of how midlifers perceive this life stage and what works and doesn't with respect to curating the second half of one's life. But, it's not just about the surveys we give them, but—given that I'm facilitating about half of the 170 workshops we've curated to-date—I see up close and personally the specific stories and anecdotes of those who make the pilgrimage to join us for a workshop.

You have been a strong advocate for intergenerational relationships in both work and life through your books, the Modern Elder Academy, and the Generations Over Dinner project. Could you share your thoughts on the importance of intergenerational relationships and their role in shaping the future of an ageing world?

We have some vexing problems to solve so why try to solve it in the old way, with older people in charge? Why not think of life as an “intergenerational potluck” with each generation bringing to the table that which they do best. Young brains are fast and focused (fluid intelligence) while older brains are holistic and intuitive (crystalised intelligence) so combining both kinds of brains can create a team neuro-diversity that helps us arrive at better solutions. 

My book Wisdom@Work: The Making of a Modern Elder explores this concept in depth, as does Arthur Brooks' book From Strength to Strength. As we age, we learn to do a 4-wheel drive of the brain as it starts to shrink, which means that we can be logical and lyrical in the same sentence. It also means that we can think through the long-term implications of the decisions we make, which is a skill that is not nearly as developed when we're younger. BMW's research has shown that teams with primarily young workers make decisions faster and make more mistakes. Teams with primarily older workers take longer to make decisions but make fewer mistakes. Mixed-age teams offer the best of both worlds: they make decisions relatively quickly and make less mistakes.

You are revolutionising midlife with wisdom, positivity and inspiration - what are your future steps in making the world a little more age friendly?

The two industries we’re trying to disrupt with MEA are higher education (with our midlife wisdom schools) and retirement communities (with our residential regenerative communities). Both are ripe for disruption because they haven’t innovated all that much. We’ve worked closely with leaders from Yale, University of Chicago, Arizona State, and St. John’s College to help them rethink how they offer “long life learning” and we’re also helping senior community developers to see how they need to innovate to stay relevant. Ultimately, we're helping them to learn how vast the opportunity is to address "long life learning," not just educating people at the start of adulthood.

Our regenerative community is Baja Sage, a 26-home development we’ve created, built around a regenerative farm within walking distance of our Baja campus, and we'll be replicating this in Santa Fe. We believe that people want to live in an intentional community with others who want to constantly regenerate themselves and their communities.