Fleet MaullThe Entrepreneur’s Zen Master

Harvard Study & Human Thriving with Relationships - Dr. Robert Waldinger Medical School Professor

20 Apr 2023 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:00

A short YouTube talk (uploaded Apr 20, 2023 by Fleet Maull) discussing life-stage aspirations and concerns. Early adulthood centers on making a contribution to society, building a career, and forming intimate partnerships. In midlife people confront mortality and shift toward generativity—worrying about legacy and fostering the next generation (term attributed to Erik Erikson).

Chapters

What we found was that when people were starting out in adult life, they wanted to make a contribution to society. I mean, this was the World War II generation, so they cared very much about that, but they were very much concerned with what young adults are still concerned with, which is, can I make a life for myself? Can I make my way in a career? Can I make my way finding an intimate partner? So as people got to midlife, they began to realize, ooh, death is real. Life really is short. What's going to happen to me for the rest of my life? And people began to ask, is this the path I want to stay on, given that time is short? And many people began to be more concerned with what Erik Erikson called generativity. What do I want to live on in the world after I'm gone? And so it became concerns, certainly about fostering the next generation.