Well, this is my first quarter being 60 years old! WOW, 30 years ago, I thought 60 years meant that you were “old.”

As far back as I can remember, I was “always” considered one of the youngest in business. And I also remember a time, which does not seem that long ago, back in Switzerland, that I needed my dad’s signature to acknowledge that I was doing business when I was too young to do so. For example, back in 1983 at the age of 19, I felt Chrysler did not have a future and went short on the stock. Well, come to find out a gentleman by the name of Lee Iacocca was able to turn Chrysler around and which caused me a huge loss, but that is a story for another Coffee Hour with Beat.

After a career of more than 40 years, people sometimes ask me: “When will you retire?” The answer is: Retirement is not in the Bible! And as a matter of fact, I am actually in much better shape than I was 20 years ago! For quite a while I thought the 60’s are the new 40’s or the 70’s are the new 50’s, but this is just a slogan. Today I believe age is just a number.

Over the past year my team and colleagues would hear me say, “Let’s figure out how we can land the plane.” I said this until my office partner in Zurich, Switzerland told me, “Don’t say that. It makes people nervous; they think you want to retire and stop doing business.” Since then, I do not use that phrase anymore. And as a matter of fact, it is not what APG, or I am, is doing at all. When a former Planning Director of Orange County visited Avalon Park a few weeks ago, he was surprised to see APG so busy. People often think Avalon Park Group is just the developer of Avalon Park Orlando and Avalon Park is 99% built. However most know that APG is so much more and is doing business around the globe. In addition to finishing out that 1% in Avalon Park Orlando, we are working on 3 more Avalon Park’s across the State of Florida, and we continue to expand into new companies and technologies.

So, when many are thinking about retirement, APG and I do the opposite, we get involved in projects which will take decades to build. Many of my close business partners are well into their 70’s, and I truly believe staying active keeps them young and excited in life.

What are you doing to stay active and excited about life? I want to hear from you! Email me at Info@AvalonParkSun.com and tell me your story. Let’s inspire each other to embrace every moment and keep thriving at any age!