There is a strange paradox that happens when you cross the threshold of sixty. Internally, you are likely at your peak. You possess a “Wisdom Precision”—a finely tuned ability to see patterns, de-escalate crises, and cut through the noise to the techniques that actually work to accomplish the goal.
You have spent decades filling your “mental hard drive” with data, experience, and the kind of intuition that only comes from thousands of hours of repetition.
At this age, you also likely find yourself in a body that requires more maintenance as health systems sometimes break down. It’s like your mind and your body are an entire mismatch. And that’s when you become aware of ageism in the workplace.
For me, aging came in the form of joint pain, weight gain and fatigue, despite a lifetime of exercise and healthy lifestyle practices. I no longer had the energy to engage in all of the committee work and after hour clubs that are considered to be voluntary in my job, and can add up to 10+ hours to the work week.
I’d been there, done that, and I was more than happy to leave that for the newbies who had something to prove, experience to acquire and a reputation to build.
Of course, I was always available as a sounding board and to advise. But I was now 100% focused on the students I had in front of me and their well being and educational growth.
I had achieved a highly specialized head/brain on the job, but it was attached to an aging body. Does this sound familiar? It can be disheartening and something you may instinctively try to fight against at first, as I did.
The Myth of the “Deadwood”
In the classroom or the boardroom, many of us have felt it: the sting of being devalued by those who confuse speed with competence.
The younger generation often arrives with the latest industry buzzwords (often attached to old models just with a fresh coat of paint on them), newer tools that hopefully make them more efficient, but along with it all an implication that the foundational strategies you’ve used for the past twenty years are “crap.”
Of course, any good professional definitely keeps abreast of new equipment, software, research and techniques. This isn’t about refusing to learn and grow, remaining steeped in a tradition regardless of its effectiveness. This is more about when the system rewards “throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and that includes the worker over 60 as well!”
If that’s you, just know, you aren’t taking up space; you are providing the foundation. We need workers of all ages and stages in every industry to provide the balance. Older workers aren’t deadwood, they’re sequoias. They bring with them resilience, community, legacy and continuity.
However, when the environment refuses to value that foundation, the “demoralization” can feel like a physical weight. It can trick you into believing that maybe your impression about your own skills and value are overinflated, and maybe “you aren’t as good as you thought you were”.
This isn’t true!
Some people leave the workforce, retiring to a quiet life post-work. I’d like to shine a new lens on the situation, in hopes that it’s of help to pivot you in ways you may welcome and find enriching and rejuvenating.
Pacing as Strategy, Not Surrender
To remain purposeful, we must stop racing our 30-year-old selves. We need to move from being the “Doer” to being the “Architect.”
- Strategic Resource Management: In your 30s, you were a marathon runner, putting a lot of effort in, to cover a fair amount of ground. In your 60s, you’re the biathlete. Making your way as efficiently as possible to specific targets to hit the bullseye, and facing each task head on, with intentional focus to get it right the first time.
- Redesigning the Environment: Figure out what in your environment isn’t working for you anymore. See what changes can be made to better meet the needs of an older body—ergonomic chairs, voice-to-text software, and a schedule that respects your biorhythms and energy levels—while amplifying your mental output. This could be as simple as identifying the times of day when you have the most brain power and designing your calendar for the hard tasks to be done then. Put your more social tasks that rely on softer skills into the time of day when you feel less focused.
- The Pivot: If the current “pot” is too small for your roots, move to the forest. Maybe it’s time to leave that job in favour of something that works better for who you are now, at this stage of life.
And remember, that we are so much more than what our current work role pigeon holes us into. We are a combination of all the lives we would have chosen, had we not chosen this particular path.
There are likely a vast number of talents, interests, and areas that could become our passion when we clear out the old, in favour of new beginnings.
The luxury to move from paid to unpaid
Recalibrating doesn’t have to be in a paid environment. Our age and stage often allows us the freedom to make a choice to “retire” in order to accomplish our goals. If you’ve got the money to move from paid to unpaid work, formally moving into retirement from a financial perspective, but not from an output perspective, do it!
There’s pure bliss in knowing you are your own boss, and it’s up to you whether you earn a living as an exchange for that output or not. Just because you aren’t getting paid, doesn’t mean it’s not work. You need to get past that concept, it’s too limiting.
For me, my mismatch between brain and body lead me to leave a formal role as an employee. This move created the space to become a lifestyle writer and a video creator. For you it could be a consulting business, a series of freelance gigs, event organization or advocacy. Sharing your knowledge or through mentorship isn’t “retiring”; it’s graduating to a platform where your expertise is the headline, not an afterthought.
When I restructured my life, it allowed me to organize my time and commitments. I was free to elevate my activities and choose who I gave my time to, in ways that were more in sync with my values, my physical needs and my creative output.
Naturally the option of leaving your job may not be available to all, and I recognize that. It’s a privilege to have that option. Hopefully in your 60s, if the cards have been lucky, you can. And if you can, I suggest you do!
Showing Up with Purpose
Feeling engaged doesn’t require a 40/50-hour-a-week grind. It requires Micro-Purpose.Your 60s are not a time of winding down, but of honing in. When you align your environment with your body’s reality, you unlock the ability to share your “Wisdom Precision” with a world that—whether it knows it yet or not—desperately needs it.
Action:
What is one mismatch you are facing between the head and the body right now? Write it down. This is your starting point. Brainstorm ways to resolve it or to work with it.
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