Retirement???

Willie Nelson is about to release his 150th-something album at age 93. No one agrees on the exact number, and Willie doesn’t seem to care. His birthday is at the end of April. The exact date is also in dispute. Google says it is the 29th, but I prefer the 30th so he shares his birthday with my oldest daughter. Willie solves the problem by celebrating on both days.

Abraham Maslow said, “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be.” To put it simply: if you’re built to create, you have to create. Willie doesn’t make music because he has to work. He works because he has to make music. If you can, you must.

That is why I have never understood the concept of retirement. People who don’t know me well seem to think that because I'm pushing sixty, I must be ready to hang it up and do…? What? Nothing? I’m lucky not to have to work, but I love what I do, and I get to do it with people I respect and enjoy. I learn constantly, mentor others, and stay surrounded by people who push me to keep improving. It certainly helps to love what you do and who you do it with.

I feel sad for people who view the goal of a lifetime of work as stopping work. I keep learning and hopefully improving. It is an exciting time to be in business. The pace of change is exhilarating, and the work is fulfilling. The world of business is changing so fast, with new technologies disrupting how work gets done, that I have to learn new things every day.

I’m not making music. But leadership in business is a creative endeavor. It is my art.

So, I have no intention of ever retiring. That doesn’t mean I am going to keep up the same pace forever. I often say that I work every day and I also play every day. I may shift the balance between those two things over time, but I never plan to stop working.

If the creative energy is in there, it must come out.

If I make it to ninety-three, I hope I’m still going like Willie. Not because I have to, but because I wouldn’t know how not to.

Listen to Willie’s latest single: Dream Chaser