I love going to the barber. No, not because I'm a John Edwards, obsessed about my appearance. Actually I look forward to the monthly chat with my barber, Tony. I have gotten my hair cut with Tony for as long as I have lived in Cincinnati (about 8 years), and although we only speak 10-12 times per year we have gotten to know each other fairly well. Tony is in his mid-50s, was born in Italy but grew up in the U.S., was in the Army, has a couple of brothers (also barbers), three children and a growing number of grandchildren. His background and perspective is much different than mine but we agree on many issues.
I don't know what he talks about with his other customers, but when I hit the chair we quickly get past the "how's your family?" questions and dive into philosophy. The other day we got into a good discussion about getting older and Tony shared a personal story that it great fodder for The Challenge Dividend...
Tony told me that his bowling game is one way that he has tracked his aging and fitness over time. He has been playing regularly in a league since 1967. For decades his average score per game hovered around 200 (pretty good), but about 18 months ago he saw his scores decline to an average of 193. After suffering through half a season at this score, Tony asked the bowling alley pro to look at his game. The pro watched him bowl a few frames and said:
"Well, I see what you're doing wrong, but guys in their 50s usually can't make the changes that you need to make."
The pro explained that Tony had errors in his form for years, but younger people can make subtle adjustments at the last second to overcome minimize their impact. As we get older, it's harder to make these adjustments, and it's very hard to change a bad, decades-old habit.
As Tony heard this explanation, he said: "Great, that's all I needed to hear." He proceeded to spend hours focusing on changing his routine and form. Instead of giving into the norm of aging, Tony chose to fight it - even gaining motivation from the comment that "guys in their 50s usually can't make the changes."
Sure enough, Tony improved. His average shot from 193 to 198 by the end of the season, and this year he has started off with a 206 average.
Overall, this story offers me further personal motivation to turn The Challenge Dividend into a successful world-moving idea. Just tell me it's not possible, and I might get the extra motivation I need!
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