What do creatives do at 60?
As someone sitting comfortably on the hexagenarian scale, I feel well placed to talk about this. If you’re expecting a rant about ageism in the workplace, nothing to see here. But if you’re curious about what I’m seeing, hearing (and feeling) without bias… let’s roll.
The view from where I sit
I coach creatives to lead fulfilling and profitable lives. My clients are usually 45–65, evenly split male/female, respected “senior” professionals still in work, but also making significant decisions about how they want life to feel in the next five, maybe 10 years.
Some still have mortgages. Others don’t. The reason I mention this is significant because even though money concerns might not be in the subject enquiry or get prettified in the subtext. What you decide to do at 60 is very much governed by money. It just is. And we have to get comfortable talking about it to make honest decisions.
The real issues (and they’re not what under-40s think)
Without fail, every coaching conversation includes concerns around lack of confidence, losing relevance and the ensuing anxiety or fear.
Then come the surprises: energy, motivation, and self-awareness.
At 60, energy is potent, motivation is unwavering, and self-awareness is sharper than ever. We know our values, even if we’re still working out how to live them fully.
So what changes with age?
The difference isn’t energy. It’s focus. When you started in your career, your internal compass was probably pretty single-minded. Not judging you, but i’d say I was pretty selfish. At 60, there’s not a lot of room for self - we get pulled in multiple directions, often all at once. Ageing parents (don’t mention the care home). Adult children (who don’t leave home) Illness (thank you Dr Google) love, loss, the state of the planet. Oh, and money. Always money.
This constant tugging plays havoc with your magnetic field. Compare your to-do list, say, with one you may have written 20 years ago (if you even wrote one). It’s no wonder it’s harder to screen out the noise.
Two choices
So what do you do?
A. Run away.
B. See opportunity.
The opportunity now is this: you’ve lived enough, lost enough, and loved enough to spot solutions others can’t even see.
What’s missing is not your creative ability, that’s still on fire, but the filters to enable you to crack on. The good news is that interference can be managed. There are tools and support that make it easier if you’re willing to keep learning.
The question isn’t what can you do at 60, it’s what do you feel motivated to do?
At 60, creatives don’t run out of energy - there’s just less tolerance of the nonsense and that results in real stand out work. And I say this based on what I see - the innovative businesses launched, the books written, the mastery of new crafts and resurrection of old- all of which defy expectation of what age means.
So keep on keeping on. Boldly. Differently. On your own own terms.