45

Turning 45 today! A few things:

• The older I get the less I remember my age. Maybe it ceases to matter less, or maybe I just don’t want to know. Either way, it might be a good thing, because…
• Age is a number. Sometimes I catch myself saying I feel old, I’m old, or variations of that. Especially when compared to the 20-30s younger demographic of the indie hacker community. But this narrative is self-limiting. Unless I’m gunning to be an Olympic level athlete or similar, age matters a lot less. Certainly for entrepreneurs and makers.
• Age isn’t just a number. Cold harsh truth is, the body doesn’t care about narratives. It just atrophies, whether you believe otherwise or not. It just is. That is the reality. At 45, I feel like I’m constantly just threading water in terms of my health and fitness. It gets way easier to gain weight, harder to keep weight off. Chronic health conditions start appearing. I wish to be in a pink of health and better physique and fitness, but you start off with a handicap.
• They say this is midlife, and it all goes downhill from here. But I feel like I’ve only just started in truly knowing what I want in life. I started a family. I got a kid. I’m passionate about building products. I treasure my health more than ever. I’m not ready to just give up and give in to going downhill. I think this is a perfect age in fact, for things to start going UPHILL, because maturity, self-knowledge, experience, resources, skills, networks are all starting to come together nicely. Breakthrough, not breakdown!

Onwards to the next half of life!