Don't Let The Old Man In

For many of us in midlife, there comes a moment when the identity we've built starts to feel insufficient. We wake up asking: "Now what? What's next? Is this it?"Bill Ang and Richard Bleasdale aren't just theorising about life's next transition, they're living it. Both are part of the inaugural cohort of the Distinguished Singapore Fellowship at the National University of Singapore, the first programme of its kind in Asia focused specifically on thriving in midlife and beyond.They're not waiting for permission or the perfect plan. They're showing up, learning, building, and trying new things—exactly what many of us struggle to do when facing uncertainty about what comes next.In this conversation, we explore:Why storytelling matters more than ever: Bill's framework for why the person who tells the best story almost always wins—and what that means for the rest of our livesThe Four Freedoms: Bill's musical metaphor for composing a meaningful life: financial freedom (the baseline), physical freedom (the rhythm), social freedom (the melody), and purpose freedom (the lyrics)The freedom we neglect most: Why relationships and community are often sacrificed when building careers—and why we can't afford to wait any longerLife has no shortcuts: Why the modern obsession with life hacks and AI shortcuts is causing us to skip the struggle, the learning, and the actual livingThe power of intergenerational collaboration: How breaking down walls between generations can transform workplaces and communitiesThe Distinguished Singapore Fellowship: What it's like to be part of Asia's first programme focused on the third transition of life, including their transformative week at Smiling Gecko in Cambodia