What I Know at 68 That I Didn’t at 48

Hey everybody and welcome back to the channel. That pelican down there is

channel. That pelican down there is beside me. He's looking for me to give

beside me. He's looking for me to give him some fish. Today I would like to talk to you about what I know at 68 that

I didn't know at 48. Now, if you're around 48 years old right now, I need you to hear this.

Because at 68, I see things now that I couldn't see then. And I wish someone had said this to me plainly.

20 years goes by a lot faster than you think. I'm 68 years old and the

think. I'm 68 years old and the difference between 48 and 68 isn't intelligence. It's perspective.

intelligence. It's perspective.

You think you you see things differently and you see things Clearly, when you turn 68 years old, you don't

gain superpowers. As we grow older, you

gain superpowers. As we grow older, you lose your illusions.

And here's some things that have changed for me over the years and things that my perspective has changed on. Number one,

time feels a lot different to me now.

And that's because I know that I'm running out. At 48 years old, I believed

running out. At 48 years old, I believed that time I had all the time in the world. And in a sense, I did. There was

world. And in a sense, I did. There was

always later. I always had later to slow down, later to enjoy my life, and later to prioritize my health. But now, at 68 years old, I understand something very

uncomfortable.

Time doesn't run out dramatically.

It evaporates quietly. You almost can't see it happening until it's too late.

20 years is just a little more than 7,000 days. That's it. So, when you're

7,000 days. That's it. So, when you're 48 years old, about 7,000 days later, you you're going to find yourself at 68 years old. And when you look at it that

years old. And when you look at it that way, you stop spending your days carelessly or casually. Number two, work

was never the safety net that I thought it was. I felt like at 48 years old, I

it was. I felt like at 48 years old, I felt like work was my identity. Uh I

felt responsible. I was productive. It

was necessary for me to work. And to be fair, all of those things were true. But

here's what I didn't see. Work expands

to consume every part of your life that you don't protect. If you just keep putting in more hoping for to be rewarded for your loyalty, what's going to happen is your work is

going to expand to consume your family life. It's going to consume time with

life. It's going to consume time with your children. It's going to consume

your children. It's going to consume your home life. It's going to consume um recreation and vacations. It work will just keep expanding until it consumes every part of your life that you don't

protect. And so you really have to

protect. And so you really have to protect and guard certain areas of your life. And you tell yourself, well, I

life. And you tell yourself, well, I know that I'm making sacrifices right now and things are getting hard and it's I'm burning the candle at both ends, but I'm doing it for later. But later keeps

moving. And what happens is when you get

moving. And what happens is when you get to that point or that milestone, the goalpost just keep moving. Now at 68 years old, looking back, I can see all of that now that it was very hard for me

to see at the time.

No job is ever going to give you the peace that you're looking for. It's never

going to be the safety net that you're looking for. It's our responsibility

looking for. It's our responsibility to take care of ourselves in regarding those things. Number three,

stress accumulates with interest.

At 48 years old, I tolerated stress as just mere background noise. Here's the

good thing. At 68 years old, what you see behind me and the waves crashing on the shore, that's the only back background noise that I have now. But

here's the thing. Stress compounds like debt. It shows up in your blood

debt. It shows up in your blood pressure. It shows up in your sleep. It

pressure. It shows up in your sleep. It

shows up in your moods. It shows up in your relationships. And you don't feel

your relationships. And you don't feel it until years later because it slowly stacks up and accumulates.

I wish that I had understood at 48 years old that managing stress isn't weakness.

It's actually a strategy.

It's not selfish to take care of yourself. It's essential.

yourself. It's essential.

Number four, here's the midlife lie that I believed.

Now, here's the biggest thing that I misunderstood at 48 years old. I believe

that I believed that putting in more effort would equal freedom. That if I worked more hours, if I made more sacrifices, if I kept pushing myself

more, I would be rewarded for my loyalty with um promotions and payraises and moving

forward and being able to being able to retire because somebody else took care of me.

But what I discovered was putting in more of my effort and time and sacrifice and hours into the wrong systems and

into the wrong structures just deepened the trap. I wasn't rewarded for my

the trap. I wasn't rewarded for my loyalty. The trap just deepened for me.

loyalty. The trap just deepened for me.

And that's the thing that you got to realize.

No one is coming to save you. No one.

and it's up to us to be resilient and to provide for and take care of ourselves. That's when I started asking

ourselves. That's when I started asking myself, what if the goal isn't to have more? What if the goal is to just have

more? What if the goal is to just have enough? Can I retire on just enough? And

enough? Can I retire on just enough? And

guess what? I found out that I could.

Number five, and that leads me into five. I need less, not more.

five. I need less, not more.

At 48 years old, I thought I needed more money, more status, more upgrades. But

at 68, I see things clearly now. I need

margin. I need space and time like this.

I need margin in my time. I need margin in my money. I need margin in expectations. I just need to have my own

expectations. I just need to have my own life back.

And it doesn't require having more to get there. Freedom isn't found in

get there. Freedom isn't found in accumulation.

It's found in subtraction, letting go of things. You see where I'm at today? It took my wife and I 40

at today? It took my wife and I 40 minutes to get here. And the only expense that it cost us was the gas to drive here. And since this is such a low

drive here. And since this is such a low expense day, before we go home, we're going to find us a nice um restaurant here along the beach before

we go home and go in and have a lunch and have a meal. In fact,

that's I thought I could show you her in the background. She's somewhere on this

the background. She's somewhere on this pier fishing right now. But we just come down here to spend a day on the water.

And it doesn't take a lot to do things like this. Your freedom isn't found in

like this. Your freedom isn't found in making more and accumulating more. It's

found in just needing less.

Number six, another thing that I clearly understand now that I didn't that I understand better than I was than when I

was 48 is your health just isn't guaranteed. At 48, my health felt

guaranteed. At 48, my health felt dependable.

Um, at at 68, I need to treat my health like an asset that requires maintenance.

My strength matters at 68. My mobility

matters at 68. My energy matters at 68 not for my ego but so that I can maintain my independence.

You don't want to reach retirement and discover that you sacrificed your body to get here.

You know, and then number seven, other people never were the audience.

I spent too much time at 48 years old worrying about perception, the perception of others,

being respectable, measuring up, looking successful.

And at 68 years old, I understand that most people aren't thinking about me in the first place.

They were over there managing their own fears and their own concerns.

And when you stop performing for others, you're finally able to relax into yourself.

So if I were able to go back in time and talk to my 48-year-old self, I would sit down with him

and this is what I would say. Ronnie,

start building your exit plan now. Start

looking for exit options and start working on them now. Don't get up into your mid-50s and try start trying to figure out how to retire. Start doing it

right now at 48.

Number two, Ronnie, guard your health like it's irreplaceable. Irreplaceable

because it is.

Number three, Ronnie, define what enough is. What is your enough amount? amount,

is. What is your enough amount? amount,

not more than enough, but what is your enough amount? And define that money

enough amount? And define that money figure early, not later.

Next, don't assume that the system is going to reward you for your loyalty because the system will not. If the

system has its way, it's going to keep you at the grind until the day you die.

So don't assume that the system is going to reward you for your loyalty.

And then five, don't wait for exhaustion or a nervous breakdown before you make changes in your life.

But then I would also add this, Ronnie.

You still do have time. Just don't

believe that you have unlimited time because you don't.

Well, that's all for now. I'm glad that you have joined me down here along the Gulf Coast today. We're near We are near the pass that leads right out into the Gulf. If you've enjoyed the video, leave

Gulf. If you've enjoyed the video, leave me a comment. I just love reading your comments that you leave behind. Please

like, share, and subscribe. I'm Ronnie.

Take care, and we'll see you next time.

And yeah, there's my wife right there.

Hey Renee, say hello to everybody.

I'm looking for Mulla. They ain't here today.

Okay. All right, everyone.