Not to derail the conversation but when did 40 become 'old'? I'm just a decade and a half from that age and that isn't long. I'd probably consider 60 or 70 to be old. Not 40.
"Old" is relative to context. 40 is old for a startup founder or professional athlete. 40 is young for a presidential candidate or a CEO at a big, pre-existing company. 40 is old for a stripper, but young for a retiree.
The media bias seems to be to put the focus on the younger ones because they usually make 'hip' stuff. But when it comes to building solid businesses the older crowd is definitely not to be underestimated.
All founders of start-ups eventually become 40+, they have more experience than the younger generation and they're bound to do it again.
Unless their original start-up became a regular business and they have to keep running it. Decades fly by like that...
> 40 is old for a startup founder or professional athlete
Though I wouldn't really classify rock or mountain climbing as a profession, the really good ones tend to peak around their 40s.
The books I've read on the subject indicate that though the peak physical capacity lies in the mid to late twenties, there are many other factor at play that make climbers better as they age (up to a reasonable age limit).
Experience, more long-term planning, increased ability to endure pain, etc give older climbers (30-45) a much higher chance to complete or survive a climb than their younger counterparts. The same appears to hold to true for other expeditions (long-term sailing, arctic/desert fun, etc). Football and basketball are not the be-all-and-end-all of sports.
Yes, but 25 is probably old for a figure skater. There are outliers on both ends, but athletes usually tend towards youth. You'd be hard-pressed to name an Olympic event with a gold medalist over 40, or in the team events, a gold medal team averaging over 40. (While it's not fair to compare Olympic soccer, compare World Cup soccer instead.)
Growing up, I was always younger than my peers. I was the youngest in my class, team, etc.
With this, I started feeling old when I was 18. It led me not try out out new things thinking I'm too old for it.
I'm 33 now but I had a realization that nobody is too old for anything. I'm trying out new things again and I don't care if I'm older than most people.
