In Chapter 9 of 16 of his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, "Start With Why" author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek offers his take on age, measuring estimated time left as a platform to make a positive difference and maximize lifetime impact. Sinek argues why this is worth considering among so many life goal, legacy, and inspirational frameworks. Simon Sinek is a trained ethnographer who applies his curiosity around why people do what they do to teach leaders and companies how to inspire people. He is the author of "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action". Sinek holds a BA degree in cultural anthropology from Brandeis University.
Transcript
Erik Michielsen: When you think about your longer term goals and how your age relates to those longer term goals, you have a very different perspective than most.
Simon Sinek: Right. When we start counting our age, we count up. It has this built in assumption that it is never going to end. It just goes up, up, up. There are statistical realities that you are going to die. You are going to die at some statistically average age. If I live stay in good shape and eat will I'll probably live to around 85. I will be a productive member of society until I'm about 75 or 80. So I don't report my age at 35, I report it as 45. I have 45 years left to do something good in this world. I have 45 years left to achieve what I need to get done in this world. So I very much count down. It might sound depressing but it is reality. The inspiration is that it gives me a kick in the ass.