By Penny Power – Business Author & Human-Centred Speaker
Last week, Thomas took a photograph of me as I was on my way to one of my keynote speeches. He sent it to our children.
A few moments later, TJ replied:
“Mum, I bet you never imagined your most prolific speaking career would happen in your sixties.”
I smiled.
Then I stopped and thought about those words for a long time.
Because he’s right.
If you’d asked the 33-year-old Penny, just beginning her entrepreneurial journey in 1998, (already 14 years into a business career) when the best years of her career would arrive, I would probably have answered, “Soon.”
Like many of us when we’re younger, I felt a constant urgency.
To achieve.
To prove myself.
To create certainty.
To arrive.
But here I am at 62, and I can honestly say I am enjoying my work more than I ever have.
Not because life has become easier.
But because life has quietly been preparing me for this season.
When I think about my parents, I realise how differently they experienced later life. They retired before they were sixty. They travelled, kept fit and enjoyed wonderful friendships, but their world gradually became smaller.
It wasn’t their fault.
Their generation expected retirement to be the destination.
Our generation has been given something very different.
We have the opportunity to keep growing.
To keep learning.
To remain relevant.
Technology moves at an extraordinary pace, and instead of fearing it, Thomas and I have chosen to stay curious.
Partly because we have the privilege of serving one hundred remarkable business owners who rely on us to help them navigate change.
Partly because, after twenty-five years as a keynote speaker, I feel more passionate than ever about sharing the importance of staying deeply human in an increasingly digital world.
But perhaps my greatest gift is something I never expected.
Our children.
Ross teaches us and our members about AI and Claude- deeply
Hannah teaches us about performance, flow and being in Performer Mode
TJ teaches us about the brain, mental health and how to flourish in a world of relentless change those The DOSE Effect.
Somewhere along the way, mentoring also became reverse mentoring.
We still guide them.
But they guide us too.
And I think that is one of the reasons I feel so alive.
I couldn’t have this with my parents, the joy of seeing them, and the joy of being seen by them, as we all continued to grow
Life is not something to complete.
It is something to accumulate.
We accumulate wisdom.
Relationships.
Mistakes.
Perspective.
Confidence.
Every setback teaches us something.
Every success humbles us.
Every season prepares us for the next.
Looking back over forty-three years in business, I can see that everything I thought was slowing me down, creating road blocks, was quietly building the person I needed to become.
The people I trusted too easily.
The skills I didn’t yet have.
The businesses that succeeded.
The ones that hurt.
The therapy to overcome grief, and trauma.
The friendships.
The failed relationships.
The reinventions.
None of it was wasted.
It all became today’s confidence and today’s resilience.
So perhaps this week I’d simply like to leave you with five gentle reminders.
- Notice the moments, because they become the wisdom you carry.
- Be fully present in every role you hold, ensuring that those that are significant and who matter to you know they matter.
- Protect your values. When you know who you are, not just what you do, your reputation will carry you further than any strategy
- Take care of your body and your mind. If you do, your sixties and seventies may become your most extraordinary decades.
And finally…
- Remember that you are not racing anyone.
- Life isn’t asking you to arrive first.
- It is simply asking you to keep becoming.
If there is one thing I know today that I didn’t know thirty years ago, it is this:
The finish line isn’t retirement.
The finish line is the moment we stop growing.
And I hope that day never comes.
and I am so grateful that I am still relevant, still needed and still have purpose
With love,
Penny x
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