My pastor once said something that has helped define my work ethic. He compared age decades to the seasons of the year. He said that your years up until your late 20s are your spring years. It is where you work the hardest, you invest everything into your education, take risks in your career in the hope that those seeds of hardwork in that time create a solid foundation for the rest of your life. Meanwhile, your 30s and 40s are your summer years, it where you begin to enjoy the fruits of your labour from your teen years and twenties and start to live a life more on your own terms. Your 50s, and 60s - your autumn years - is where you still continue to enjoy the investments of your hard work, but you simultaneously begin to wind down to live a less hectic life. Finally, the winter of your life is your 70s and beyond and that is pretty much self-explanatory.
Now this an analogy doesn’t apply to everyone, as someone like Cicely Tyson is still working and thriving in her 90s. Your golden years of success can come at any decade and of course, we shouldn’t be limited by our age in achieving our dreams. However, it made me determined to ensure that I don’t live a life where I’m not working around the clock in my later years.