One simple tool for maintaining relationships is your address book. In addition to contact information I try to include a birthday (if known) or better a date of birth (the latter containing a year – useful for those special birthdays). Birthdays show in my calendar and, for a few quid annually, I subscribe to an […]
At any age changing your behaviour can be a challenge. We become accustom to comfortable routines which perpetuate long past their intended purpose. Sometimes its what you do and sometimes its what you don’t. Talk to many octogenarians about taking a taxi and they look at you as if you are mad. One was seriously […]
Talking about death can be a catalyst for unusual discussions – and occasionally inspirational revelations. Some people are great planners putting considerable thought into their own demise while others, like one relative, a top class hoarder, simply shrugged and said ‘well, it won’t be my problem’. There are some that seek to exercise ‘intrusive control’ […]
Today feels like it has been a good day and I’m wondering why? This is important because, if I can work out what has made it a good day, I can work towards ensuring I have them more often! There has been no one big event – if there had then it may have been […]
Many of us remember the Thomas books with great affection, either from our own childhood or by reading them to our children. The Fat Controller was the man in charge – not the evil ‘factory owner’, but an authority figure, the one who sorts it all out when things go wrong. At EML we encourage […]
The EML definition of Frail Old Age is less scientific then some… Frail Old Age begins when ‘whatever is going to get you in the end’ emerges. Over the last 50 years human life expectancy has increased by 50% yet that final stage – the run up to the end – remains between 1 to […]
I recently saw a TED Talk where the speaker was encouraging his audience to keep working as, he claimed, retirement would kill you! His suggestion seemed, at first sight, diametrically opposed to the EML philosophy of transition, as soon as possible, to your post-employment ‘ second career’. On reflection however, I concluded that we were […]
While the focus of EML’s research is understanding living longer it is important to say that, at an individual level, life remains a lottery and there are no guarantees. Most of the change we describe reflect a change of expectation. Be it pension funds ‘expecting’ their members to be around longer, the Health Service expecting […]
One organisation I’m working with is planning a major shake up to ‘improve efficiency’. Nothing new, in fact they have been slow to embrace the digital world so a ‘catch up’ is long overdue. Inevitably there are cost considerations and they are currently looking for the best way to structure their business units. Listening to […]
One of six personal skills needed for making the most of living longer is Embracing Change . It is almost inevitable, the longer we live, the more change we encounter. Yet not all change is good, and embracing change just because it’s there is a fools game. The skill is is retaining an open mind […]