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Future Fear: Part Three – Imposter Syndrome
I won’t discuss how to overcome your fear in this article. Instead, I will focus on the fear that arises when you think you’re getting past it—the belief that you’re no longer capable of serving clients effectively or that you might become incapacitated at some point in your working life.
Noticing the Elderly
As we enter our mid-fifties, many of us will have ageing parents. We will see them slowly becoming incapacitated. We will notice how their faculties start to diminish and begin to fear that we, too, will face the same fate.
So, what does that mean as you strive to create a functional future? What does this mean as you approach our late sixties, early seventies, and beyond?
The Fear of Incapacity
It’s a very realistic fear. You may have a significant health issue—one that greatly incapacitates you. There are lots of carefully researched books on how you can adopt well-being strategies to reduce the risks of heart attack, dementia, diabetes, inflammatory disease, cancer, etc. The late Michael Mosley celebrated the opportunities to improve your well-being with his radio series ‘Just One Thing’ (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p09by3yy). But this is not another article on well-being.
I will discuss how you can envision continuing to operate as you age. I suggest four keys that can help you avoid moving past it.
Intergenerational Engagement
The first is intergenerational engagement. Groucho Marx famously quipped, “A man is only as old as the woman he feels.” Perhaps an unfortunate sexist remark in our times, but this belies a more profound truth about the power of connecting with people one, two, or even three generations younger than you. You will feel invigorated by intentionally collaborating and engaging with individuals who are ten, twenty, thirty, and sometimes even forty years younger than you. Their energy, fresh ideas, new perspectives, and comfort with technology will help you continue adding value and doing things people see as valuable in the future.
I remember the early 2000s when the internet came alive. I worked in a large professional consulting organisation, and we had upward mentoring. The senior partners at this firm, who were fearful of the internet, engaged the young graduates joining the firm to teach them about it, in an upward mentoring.
I know that by continuing to include people in their mid-twenties, early thirties, mid-forties, fifties, and even those older than me in their seventies and beyond within the teams that work with me, I constantly enrich my experience, insight, and understanding. It energises me to move forward. Thus, intergenerational engagement is key.
Technology as a Brain Extension
The second thing is treating technology as a supplementary brain. When some former colleagues of mine started wearing hearing aids, I was personally shocked. ‘Have you been listening to too much heavy metal in your youth?’ I wanted to ask. But I realised that by wearing hearing aids, they were taking advantage of modern technology that could equip them to be equally effective as those without hearing loss. You can use technology to extend your capabilities.
In my work, I use technology daily to enhance my capabilities. Whether it’s using Grammarly to help me improve my English, LinkedIn to connect with different people, a CRM to manage my relationships, or even my phone contacts list to remind me of individuals I need to engage with, all these tools extend my cognitive reach.
And as I do that, I don’t have to rely as much on my memory, intellectual acuity, or attention to detail. I don’t have to depend on those faculties that may diminish as I get older. I can use technology to bypass those limitations.
End of Life Learning
The third key is to be constantly learning. This isn’t about obsessively chasing the next trend but about recognising that there’s always something new to learn. As you age, the temptation is to narrow the field of inquiry in which you wish to learn. However, without the pressures of a conventional, focused work-style, you can open yourself up to a broader range of things to learn.
For example, if you’ve never had the opportunity to learn how to be a public speaker, this is a great time to take that step. If you’ve always been interested in astronomy but never found the time to explore it, now is the moment to dive in. If you’ve always loved the idea of being a filmmaker but haven’t tried it yet, now is the perfect time to learn something new. Please don’t assume that you must narrow your focus as you get older; instead, expand it. Broaden your knowledge across a wider range of topics rather than concentrating on fewer subjects.
Enter a situation where your assumptions, prejudices, and beliefs can be challenged. This will help you evaluate whether your understanding of reality needs to evolve as the world around you changes.
Ongoing learning excites me. As a trained technologist, I enjoy learning about technology, but for others, it might be in the arts, theatre, sciences, or even politics. There are countless ways you extend and deepen your learning.
Wisdom
The fourth key is moving from action, information, and knowledge to being valued for wisdom. Wisdom feels very intangible. To me, wisdom is very different from being an expert who knows almost everything about almost nothing. Wisdom is the capacity to weigh the big questions, to go beyond a first reaction, and to tell stories about the world that not only provide answers but also engage in understanding others and draw out truth rather than jumping to conclusions.
It recognises the various life cycles and fashions, drawing on them to provide insights to those who have yet to experience them.
For me, in my early sixties, it may be unbelievable, but there are people out there who’ve never truly experienced a recession. I’ve been interested in business since a very early age, and I’ve witnessed recession after recession, boom and bust. It’s something I’m accustomed to. In the early eighties, I bought my first house at the peak of the market boom and bust. Now, I can notice the signs and help others shape their response. I don’t believe that markets only go up. I don’t think recessions are forever. There are wiser things to do when recession strikes. There are particular opportunities in the boom times.
Having been involved in technology, I’ve witnessed the cycles of centralised, decentralised, distributed, and networked computing come and go, from mainframes to cloud computing. This pattern repeats itself time and again. There are similar cycles for CIOs regarding outsourcing, insourcing, cost-cutting, and technology investment.
In the marketing space, fashions abound: TV, email, and social media all hold sway at different times. Yet one of my most profitable clients makes all her money from direct mail, as though it had never gone out of fashion.
Recognising those patterns, asking deeper questions, and sharing stories that empower people to see the world differently are hallmarks of wisdom. You’re not merely focused on providing answers but on offering insights that help others enhance their understanding.
Conclusion
The fear of getting past it is indeed a realistic concern. As we get older, our ability to perform certain activities may decrease. However, with the right strategies—intergenerational engagement, embracing technology, continuous learning, and pursuing wisdom—we can keep growing, adding value, and remaining engaged in meaningful ways.
Charles McLachlan is the founder of FuturePerfect and on a mission to transform the future of work and business. The Portfolio Executive programme is a new initiative to help executives build a sustainable and impactful second-half-career. Creating an alternative future takes imagination, design, organisation and many other thinking skills. Charles is happy to lend them to you.