Ep. 92 Wisdom of the Aged

I feel good. Na na na na na na na.

Whenever you're ready.

Hey, Darren, how you doing, man?

Doing okay, Mark. Feeling old today? Feeling old.

Well, you know, what I'm doing here is for those who can see the video. I want to see if I can grow a goatee and a mustache by my 60th birthday in a couple of months. So we'll see if I can do my Santa Claus impersonation. I'm going to get a little older, right? It's funny, as I mentioned age, I remember reading a book titled by Wayne Dyer. It's called the Wisdom of the Ages. And in the book he talks about you in how to apply the wisdom of 60 of the world's greatest thinkers to our daily lives. But then I began to think, hmm, what if we were to get the wisdom of the aged?

I see what you did there. Nice. Let's find out.

Soon.

Anyone can give a presentation. Few deliver unforgettable presentations. What's the difference? You're about to find out. Welcome to the Unforgettable Presentations podcast with your hosts, world champion speakers and coaches, Mark Brown.

Mark Brown, your life tells a story and there's someone out there who needs to hear it.

And Darren Lacroix. And Darren Lacroix.

Stage time. Stage time. Stage time.

Ready for some powerful presentation? Ahas. Let's dive right in.

Mark. I love this idea for one big reason. My sister, before my grandparents passed away, sat down with them with the old fashioned tape recorder, you know, two buttons, boom, play and record at the same time, and just had a powerful conversation. And she learned things just because she asked. Things from our own family, that our parents, our grandparents, they have a rich history and, and they might tell some stories over and over again, but it could be the greatest time, it could be the greatest gift you give them to actually just sit down and ask them about their life, about their growing up, about their challenges that they overcame. Not only would you have this amazing keepsake of this recording to pass on to your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, but, but you may also create a brand new story, a new nugget of wisdom that you would have never, ever found. That's right. From your own family. Remember last week's episode Closer to Home? So this is Closer to home, but this is a hidden treasure. This is a gold mine. And we're suggesting that it might just be a huge, beautiful thing to do for one of your relatives in terms of sitting down and having just a nice long conversation over a glass of wine, over a beer, over A glass of iced tea and just listening. Ask questions and then listen.

That's so true. You know, I have a coaching client who did just that. He is working on a keynote and his story is very unique and interesting. And he decided to talk to his mom to find out what she went through. And in his particular life, she was an inspiration because she went through a whole lot, including lossing at. But he began to literally interview her. And for those who wanted to go old school, Darren, you mentioned the old tape recorder with a cassette. If you were really sharp, you would press pause first, record and play. And then when you're ready, you just release pause. It'll start to record for you. Anyway, what he did was he sat with his mom and he interviewed her on several different occasions. And the depth of his own story began to come out. Parts of his story he didn't even know. But beyond that, yes, we can do that closer to home, as we said last year week. But how many other people do you know? The people down the street who are older? I have a neighbor down the street. I'll call her Ms. Lily. That's not her real name, but she has to be in her 80s. And we'll drive by and we'll see her outside with a pitchfork, digging the holes to plant her bushes. And we'll stop and talk to Ms. Lily and just kind of hear what she has to say. And when I came out here back in, you know, back in the days, and we were all woods over here and just kind of tell your stories. And sometimes in those stories is a nugget of wisdom that goes boom. It's the mic drop that comes from somebody who is old who sees life differently. I understand in some cultures the aged are revered and respected. And I may step on a few North American toes here, Darren, but I gotta be honest. You know, I have friends who are close to me who are talking about their parents being in a nursing home. And when they were a certain age, they were sent off and they get a visit once every couple of weeks or once a month from a family member. And it kind of makes me sad because sometimes those who are hardly placed in a home, and I don't want to offend anybody by saying it, but I'm saying they may have such wisdom sitting there. An untapped resource. We get caught up these days in how to do things quickly. We're in the Internet world. Things go viral, we want news right away. We tend to get caught up in what we got to do. Now, now, now, now, now, now. Now we're an instant generation, an instant world. But if we just sat for a while with somebody who was older, who has lived for a while and just listened to them. We went to Jamaica, Andrea and I did, a few years ago, to a church anniversary celebration. And I was the keynote speaker for the event. And our pastor was there, the pastor who married us 39 years ago. He is in his 90s and as fit as a fiddle. He looks about 60, trim stomach. I wish I had one of those. And to hear him talking, the wisdom he had and the stories he told of his youth, that's gold. That's priceless. I didn't record any what he had to say, but as I talk about this now, I remember. Here's somebody in his 90s. What has he lived through? What has he seen here in North America and other countries? There are those who are in their 90s now who can remember what it was like during world war seasons, who had been through different depressions, who have been through so many experiences. Korean War, the Vietnam War. People won't even talk about those things, but you hear their experiences. I remember where I was when JFK got shot. I can remember this. And what are dealing with the civil rights struggle. I can remember all these experiences. But we get so caught up in the now, we don't realize the power of the past. And that power is a. Is a. Is a mind. Is a mind to be mined in the wisdom of the ages. And sometimes one more point is this. It's how they handled certain situations without the tools and resources we have today. We call it old school, but sometimes old school is solid. It's foundational, it's effective, and it works. So what I'm saying is this. When was the last time we sat down with somebody who was older? Now, truth be told, there are those who will tell me I'm old, pushing 60. Beside the point. All of us have resources available to us. Our neighbors down the street, our grandparents, an uncle or aunt, or even somebody who is in assisted living, who's been there for a while, but who's seen it all, who could regale us with stories, with tales, with solutions and ideas long since forgotten that may work for us today.

Yeah, Mark, maybe you can tell us a story about rolling down a car window.

You got to do the art. Yes. You got to wind it down. Hope doesn't get stuck. I know, I know. Go ahead.

Did you. Did you crank cars? Did you have to? Did you go back that far?

I crank stopped the car.

Nice.

But I do recall There were cars with a dip switch or a dip switch to dim your lights was actually on the floorboard of the car. You'd push that button and it would dip the lights. We had cars with traffic caterers, a turn signal. It would pop out the side of the car to turn left. I'm serious. Let you know you were turning left and I was on the door jam. It'll pop out in the 60s. You pop it out, which means I'm going to turn left on the right. It pop it out and it would turn right Enough. Having fun at my age? It's okay. It's no problem. It is no problem. No problem, man. But think about it.

I didn't even know they had cars in Jamaica back then.

Oh, yeah, go ahead, have fun. Have fun. I still love you, buddy. And for those who may be new to our podcast, please understand we love each other. We are teasing. He's not mocking my country. He's just spoken for me. We've been friends for 20 years, like brothers, so it's all good, right? So please do not misunderstand, as they say nowadays. Don't get it twisted right.

I'm not even that hip. So I would.

But please, but please do consider. Whom do you know who has lived a life who could drop some wisdom on you from what they have been through, what they have learned and how they particularly how they handle problems then that we handle differently now. But the method they use was very effective. What can they share with you? What can you learn from that you can begin to apply today that's long lasting time tested, proven solutions that we may have forgotten or never even seen before.

Yeah, Mark. I started off by talking about when my sister sat down my grandparents before they had passed. And if you remember my keynote speech, your hero's Journey, when I was talking about that and I started off with the. The actual conversation about finding out my grandparents were both adopted, like that was a revelation. But it also gave me a great point that without my sister taking the time to do that, I even remember my own sister explaining to me why we used to have franks and beans once a week. I'm a simple eater. I am not. I.

You're picky.

I'm not adventurous, let's just say that at all. Very picky.

Your window is small. Very picky.

Finding out that the reason we had franks and beans once a week is that's all my parents could afford when we were growing up. And I had no idea. I thought it was cool. I look forward to franks and beans. I Didn't know everybody else thought differently. I'm like, man, that's awesome. It's Frank and Bean night again. Are these relatable, Are these relatable ideas? But it started with sitting down with someone and asking questions and take two. Honestly, it was really cool to do that and even just ask the questions of my dad about what it was like when he was growing up. And I try to do that at family functions now because my dad's and mom are getting older and we don't know how long we'll have them. So I try to take some time to ask some specific questions to let him light up. Here's the quiet, shy guy, just like I was growing up. And he lights up when he tells these stories. And I see my nephews, his grandchildren, just enthralled in what he's saying because they had no idea. I had no idea. So you're making someone's day if you record it, Mark, how cool would it be if it was a special moment and you actually played a few seconds, maybe 15 or 20 seconds of them, not only you retelling what they said, but have an audio clip that you actually embed into a slide. And then we can see a picture of your grandfather, of your grandmother, of your aunt, your uncle, See a picture of them and then hear their words.

That's powerful, man. That's so powerful. And, you know, it might sound a little annoying, but I can recall there's one phrase that when you're a young person, a teenager, you never want to hear an adult or adult, if you're in Canada, say to you, when I was your age. Oh my gosh, here we go. Here comes the lecture. When I was your age. Yeah, when you were your age, used to walk to school barefoot. Yeah. You had your satchel around the belt to carry your books. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But if we take the time to go beyond the annoyance of the phrase when I was your age and actually listen, what we might find is this. When I was your age, generally it's followed by a story of their life experience. Yes, when they were our age, in a different time and place. But they may state a similar problem but a different solution. They may tell you how difficult it was, but here's how we handled it back then. Here's how we did things back then. Yeah, yeah, yeah, back then. But if we were to, to stop and process that and ask ourselves, could that be applicable to today? Could that old fashioned solution be helpful? Could that old fashioned story teach me something? Oh, yeah. Back in the day, when I was your age, we had to build a barn. Everybody came by, the whole neighborhood built a barn. We put that thing up in one day. Teamwork, old fashioned teamwork. Oh, I hadn't thought about that. So do me a favor. Try to recall the last time somebody older told you when I was your age, and think back to the story they told, the moral of the story, the lessons those story told, and you just might find you were listening to the wisdom of the aged. Think about it. When I was your age need not me that annoying or boring. Put in the right context with a mindset of what could I possibly learn from this?

Yeah, sometimes, Mark, you know my quote, old school leads. It needs a little new school. Are you going to be out of school? Well, sometimes new school could use a little old school. Are you gonna have to stay in school?

No, me like that. Me like much. That's good. I like that. Yeah, the old school is so powerful. As a matter of fact, you know, I understand in culture, certainly in African American culture, there was. In African culture, you know, there's a griot, the one who will sit there and just tell stories and impart wisdom to the kids. Wisdom is something that we need. And wisdom does often come from experience. And many of us don't have the experiences from which some of the great wisdom that our ancestors have have been born. So if nothing else, draw from the wisdom of their experience, how they handle certain things, how they responded. You know, the idea of, geez, a gentleman's agreement. Oh yeah, we did everything on a handshake back then. Wait, you bought 50 acres of land on a handshake? Yeah, that's how we did things back then. What was so different? Well, let me tell you, son, and then explain to you why it was different. You look at your life in the context of that lifetime and that generation and that dispensation, they say, okay, what if we were to bring some of that back? Is it even possible? How might it change our relationships? How might it change our neighborhoods? How might it change the way we begin to get along more differently if we went back to that time, other time, another place, and apply the wisdom of the agent?

Yeah, maybe Justin Timberlake could do another song instead of bringing sexy back, bringing integrity back.

I don't think I wanted to. And Darren, seriously, I know we aren't spending a lot of time. We're doing a long podcast today, but sometimes it's good to take a little time, take a short look, but also find a way to apply some simple principles without a lot of discussion with a takeaway or a call to action. Who can you interview? Who can you talk with? Who can you listen to? Who can you approach differently to say, hey, there may be some wisdom there, what can I draw from them and apply? Because you know what, at some point or another to your kids and to your kids friends, you're going to be the old person who says oh no, not back in the day when I was your age. But you'll find your wisdom will be applicable to them and they'll apply that help them live more powerful, more meaningful lives. And as you draw this knowledge, as you get this wisdom, pass it on. How? Through your speeches, through your presentations, through your stories. And as you keep doing this, you will receive, you will glean, you will learn from, but you'll also pass on the wisdom of the aged.

See you next week.

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