Vladimir Yakovlev: "Life Does Not End At 50, The Best Part Of It Comes" - Interview

Dossier

Vladimir YAKOVLEV - journalist, media manager. He invented and is doing the "Age of Happiness" project, which is dedicated to new opportunities that have arisen as a result of the global leap in life expectancy. At the same time, he is developing a media startup to monetize copyright content projects. I used to make and come up with the "Snob" project. And even earlier, he was the founder, owner and first editor-in-chief of the Kommersant Publishing House.

Why is the age of happiness at 50? Why is it impossible to be happy before that?

And up to 50 you can be happy. But there are certain stages in life, and the whole story with the age of happiness lies in the fact that due to the jump in life expectancy, a new stage of development has appeared. And it's about happiness, about achieving harmony with the outside world. We study until the age of 20, then we have a period of self-realization, but we always correlate happiness and joy with some kind of results. I will earn money - I will be happy, I will create a family - I will be happy.

And when all the goals are achieved …

Or not achieved. Positive and negative experiences are unambiguous, the same. But with age, it becomes possible to simply get high from life every day. These are not only material resources, not only free time, although, of course, after 50 people have fantastic freedom. Children have grown up, there is an apartment or a house. Those in their 50s today are a unique generation with incredible experiences and incredible youth. This has never happened in the history of mankind.

By "young" do you mean your health reserve?

Yes, a supply of energy, health, strength. For my parents at 50, old age began, in fact, it began even at 40. For us, an active life continues after 50 for another 20-25 years. This is not just a repetition phase where you can achieve the same goals again. These are new tasks, the answer to which you do not know, this is development. This is what gives strength.

For me, happiness is a state where inner expectations correspond to outer reality

Each of us lives on the border of two worlds: external and internal. And for me the meaning is to find the balance of these two worlds, find their harmony, resonance, correspondence. For some, the meaning is different. But whatever the meaning, there are tasks and stages of development. And goals are good because they put us in situations that develop us. After 50, such a goal is to increase the joy of life, getting pleasure every day. We are the first generation that goes through this stage of development, we have not been prepared for this life. We will pass it for our children too, it will be much easier for our grandchildren, they will already know what to do after 50.

How do you feel about the idea that happiness is based on the absence of unhappiness?

I believe that the first step on the road to happiness is to stop going crazy about not having it

Happiness sets us tasks, the solution of which develops our personality. If the set goal does not develop, but only serves to get pleasure, then there is no point here. We were given an additional 25-30 years of a fun, vibrant life. And people do not know about this, they reach the age about which they were told that this is old age, and they begin to grow old with all their might. Our goal is to give people the realization that they have 25-30 years of life, that there are still many interesting things ahead, that they are cool, that nothing is over. Give them time. Considering yourself old at 50 is an outdated view that no longer corresponds to reality. When people come here, they first of all receive confirmation of their inner feelings. Therefore, there is such a fuse, such joy and such fun, because they get communication with each other and with everyone,confirmation of how they feel: they are 50 and not old, they do not believe that they are old, but social stereotypes make them think so. When they come here, they are freed from them, they understand that there is still plenty of time ahead and this is a thrill, this is joy.

Yes, but if an inner feeling shows them that they are not old yet, and the test results say something completely different?

Your test results may be bad at 18, 19, and 30. Health and age are not related things, at least not directly. Old age begins when a certain period of body degradation begins. For our parents, it began at 50, for us it starts at 75. There are people who cross this border, there are a lot of them.

In the middle of the last century, there was a jump in life expectancy, this is a scientifically documented fact. The consequences of this leap are not that people live longer in old age, but that old age comes later. Whether you want it or not, we can attach a philosophical meaning to it, but it's just that at 50 people are still young now. At the same time, they cannot continue to live the way they lived before. We already have children, the business has already started, the experience has already been gained. And people come to a dead end because they have no new goals, no new tasks, no new drive.

I have a friend, a Spanish woman, who at 50 said that she was tired of waiting and wanted to realize all the goals that she had in her life. She wanted to become a yacht captain, she wanted to be a singer and an actress. At fifty. At the same time, she was afraid of the sea, she has no hearing, and she plays disgustingly. And she achieved her goals. Do you know how? She went to a friend of hers who is filming commercials. He took her off several times, she got acting experience, became an actress. She has a son who races sailboats. She said, "Listen, teach me." She began to participate in competitions, now rides high-speed yachts and takes first places. And sings in the choir, where she is not very audible. She fulfilled all desires, gained experience. And at the same time she refused to compete. If we give up competition, we can achieve almost anything.

At 50, some things that seemed valuable are no longer so

For example, make tons of money. Or become not just a singer, but famous. But there is an opportunity to gain experience, new impressions.

But in our country there is still a topic of survival of those over 50

Yes. But the happiest person I know lives on € 100 a month. And the most unfortunate person I know is a billionaire who spends an hour every morning in prayer for God to send him more. Money itself doesn't change much. I had a period when I was very rich, this was the most difficult and terrible time for me. Social security, in my opinion, is not guaranteed by money, it is ensured by the awareness of being in demand.

There are now two new social groups. One of them is called super-adults, the other is called meta-adults. Super-Agers are not just centenarians, they are people who stay healthy for a very long time. Meta-adults are people who are entering a new stage of personality development, which lasts from 50 to 75.

Vogue has released an issue entirely dedicated to women 60+. This is a giant global trend, this is a change in the mainstream. 70% of the money in America belongs to people over 50. These people now define the consumer market. Even the characters in the commercials got older, the heroes of the TV series turned gray. Whether you like it or not, within the next 20 years, according to UN statistics, 37% of the world's population will be over the age of 60. Considering India, China, Africa. For Europe and America, these numbers are even higher.

At 50, life does not end, the best part of it comes.