Age Is a Terrible Proxy for Ability
Age Is a Terrible Proxy for Ability
I’m 64 years old. Yet more often than not, people assume I’m in my 40s. Maybe it’s my energy, maybe it’s my smile, maybe it’s the fact that I refuse to let age dictate the size of my ambition. Whatever it is, I take it as proof of a belief I’ve carried for decades: age is an arbitrary and outdated proxy for maturity and ability.
The calendar doesn’t measure curiosity. It doesn’t capture resilience. It doesn’t tell you who’s still willing to learn, unlearn, and reinvent. And if you know me, you know I’m relentless about reinvention. Medicine, technology, business—these are just canvases. The real art is staying relevant, staying human, and leading with clarity when others fall back on excuses.
I’ve seen 30-year-olds who are already old in spirit—tired, cynical, stuck. And I’ve seen 70-year-olds with more vitality than an entire startup accelerator. Maturity isn’t a birthday; it’s a mindset. Ability isn’t a number; it’s a discipline.
Success, to me, is fulfilling your God-given potential. That requires deliberate choices: managing your energy (a lesson borrowed straight from the first law of thermodynamics), and scheduling your priorities—not your time. Because you don’t own time. You only own what you choose to give your energy to.
And let’s face it—life itself is a sexually transmitted, terminal condition with a 100% mortality rate. No one has left this planet alive permanently. Sobering, yes. But also liberating. It means every single day is a chance to maximize your potential, not postpone it.
The good news? We now have the science and the discipline to push back against aging. We can—and should—indulge in anti-aging and longevity practices and remedies. At MIMIT Health, that’s not a side business. It’s a mission: helping people extend not just their lifespan, but their healthspan, so they can live with purpose until the last mile.
So when someone says, “You don’t look your age,” I smile. Because they’re right—I don’t live my age either. I live my mission. And as long as that mission burns, time can try to keep up with me.
