My Dad is a 90yr Old Founder
And he's totally killing it
Last year, as I was approaching the age of 50, I decided to put together a 20-year plan about how I’m going to live my life into my 70s. I had a lot on my mind: my career, my children, my health, my spirituality, and the list went on and on.
During my visit to Korea at the time, I figured it would be a good idea to share this plan with my father, so that he can see that his son put in much thought into his life. I wanted to allay his fears and show that I wasn’t just winging things recklessly, especially with a family on deck.
So I picked an opportune time after a cozy family dinner to sit him and down and go over the notes that I had put together. I was quite excited to share my plans with him, and make him proud. I think he could sense my enthusiasm as I went over each aspect of the plan, along with the thought process and risk management filters I put into place. When I finished, I was eagerly waiting for his approval - and I got it. With a couple of pats on my back, an honest “I hear you” smile, he calmly mentioned how he thought it made a lot of sense and that he was happy that I took the time out to really think things through as I approached the age of 50.
My dad told me to sit down and wait, as he sauntered to the back of his study sifting through some old drawers. He said he had something he wanted to show me. Now at this point, I was really curious. To be honest, I had no idea what he was going to pull out. Maybe a gift? Or some photo of him when he turned 50?
Then one of the most unexpected things in my life happened.
He returned with a PowerPoint printout and dusted off its cover. With a deliberate and calm voice, he matter-of-factly announced “Son, this is my 80-100yr old plan that I wrote ten years ago.”
Holy shit! I had to pick up my jaw from the floor. This man actually created a twenty year plan when he turned 80 years old! But that wasn’t the kicker. The slam dunk was, as he flipped through the pages of his plan, I realized that he was literally spot on where he envisioned he would be ten years ago. Not only did he create a plan, he was totally executing it better than any Agile project manager I’ve ever encountered in my life!
At the end, he smiled and said he was already thinking about the next 100-120yr old plan 🤯
Duuuuuuuuuuuude.
I am fully aware of the world record for the oldest male to ever live. I actually think my dad can pull it off, no joke. I’m completely serious.
Now my dad doesn’t look like he’s 90. And I don’t look like I’m 50. You would think that we are just lucky and won the genetic lottery sweepstakes.
Science would tell you otherwise.
We have learned is that while genetics do matter, it matters much less that we used to think. In fact, what we have discovered is that our behavior is the primary determinant of our health and longevity.
Genetics and our DNA represent potential - a range of possible outcomes. They do not dictate the actual outcome as much as our behavior and the way we choose to live our lives.
There has been an explosion of growth in new scientific fields, including epigenetics, multi-omics, and other gene expression related studies involving DNA→RNA, proteins, and molecules. We understand a lot more than we used to in this space, and the learning curve is accelerating exponentially.
Our behavior translates into the choices we make, given the potential as represented by our genetics. Different people have different dispositions, and adapting to them and choosing to live our lives optimally based on our configuration is the greatest determinant in health and longevity.
If you go one step further and then ask, well, where does our behavior and choices emanate from? You will understand that it is our internal mindset and mental framework that dictates our behavior and the choices we make. To get more sleep or not. To stay in a stressful situation longer or to leave. To exercise or not. To smoke and drink or not. To eat chemicals or not. And so and so forth.
What is the motivating factor? Where is the will? How do we keep track? These are all part of living the FoFtyLife. I’ve discussed this framework in an earlier post here.
The Material World includes our physiology, with the layers underneath structuring our “interfaces” into the “Matrix” or what we call, reality - something that we are constantly rendering through our minds.
My father has been practicing this all his life. So have I. Along with my wife, with whom I share no genetic material with, yet she too, does not look like she is 45 years old.
One of the big components to my father’s health in his age is his cognition. The NGO (G-FACE: Global Foundation for Asian Community Empowerment) he created and is so busy running today keeps his neural networks firing, and firing with the right purpose towards his fulfilment.
It is this way of living, through the FoFty Ideology and Principles that I want to share with others, so that you too can see for yourself how it can uplift their lives. 🙏
Learn more from the accompanying YouTube video over here:
love this. your father is an inspiration :)