Friends & colleagues often talk about retiring early .. maybe at 45. A retired life filled with “not for money” activities – is what many of us aspire for. With this in context, it was a surprise when I stumbled upon a story & a fact involving a couple of luminaries – Mahatma Gandhi & Peter Drucker.
Brushing up on my history a couple of weeks ago during a visit to Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, I discovered that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi returned from South Africa when he was 45 years old. This was reinforced when helping my son through his 8th grade history lessons today again. MK Gandhi started tormenting the Britishers in India only after that.
In his interview with Tim Ferris, Jim Collins narrates the story of his first meeting with Peter Drucker – his mentor. Jim asks the management guru, who at the time was 86 years old, which amongst his 26 published books was he most fond of. Drucker simply says “the next one”. He went on to publish 10 more books after this incident.
It’s never too late! The mindset required to keep looking ahead & maximising the impact you can have is admirable. Reminds me of my grand mom – an avid reader through her life, she found herself struggling to hold heavy books in her late 80s. She restricted herself to light & small books. Imagine her thrill when she discovered Kindle! No fear of gadgets, new things to learn .. just the joy of reading into her 90s.