For a columnist who likes to ponder and record, these are not only excellent conditions for reflection, they bring with them thoughts of life’s winter – offering a trick or treat bag of ideas containing the obvious and connected themes of migration, retirement, ageing and dying.
For some, this will, of course, be too serious, and morbid, to look at. But this time of year, with its hallowed and thinly-veiled connection between the worlds of the alive and dead, is an inescapable, albeit avoidable, opportunity for collective review and personal consideration.
The year, for all, is in the concluding part of its natural cycle. And for some individuals, the grand arc of their lives is heading in that same direction too, pointing at a ‘third act’ or a ‘last lap’. Do please excuse the uncomfortable shift from the meteorological and into more and mixed metaphors, but I do this to make a point: whichever way you choose to see this, it can be depressing or delightful – depending on your prejudices and disposition – which I am addressing.
Some weeks ago, I shared with you the inspiring worldview of Irish expat and renaissance woman Ann McGarry who purposefully promotes the third act as an “amazing” phase of life that brings “burning questions about life purpose and making a contribution”.
This week, I’m calling upon a man who’s known as the ‘High Flow CEO’, who prefers the racetrack as a way of seeing the world and thereby extracting the life-enhancing value of every exciting thrill and teachable spill, where rubber is hitting the road. And as I put it that way, perhaps I can add the ‘lap of honour’ lens to further complicate the rich metaphorical picture.
I’m sure you get the idea, however. We are addressing here the particular predicament of immigrants who come to Portugal to retire, and ‘pushing the envelopes’ that might contain Stannah lift and Saga holiday special offers. In fact, we are taking that direct mail (which seems to have no problem being direct about our age and its assumptions about our aspirations) and creating a heart-warming and inspiration-igniting bonfire that can help us “burn and rave at close of day” as Dylan Thomas put it, as we “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”.
Two years ago, Miguel Franco launched and registered the High Flow CEO brand in the US, and published his latest book – The Drive to Win – a move which integrated two of his great passions in life: racing and personal development.
Later this year, he’ll be joining us in Portugal where he intends to continue competing in kart racing (Portugal being an ideal backdrop with its numerous kart tracks and two world-class racing circuits). I should also mention, given our topic today, that Miguel is just shy of 70 and chose to return to karting after his initiation in the sport 50 years ago, where he started alongside legend Ayrton Senna, in his native Brazil.
This is a man who is not coming to retire in Portugal. If anything (and excuse the dad joke), he’s coming here to re-tyre, and with a twofold intention to both continue racing competitively, as well as continuing to use the track setting as a “development lab for the ‘High Flow Performance’ methodology and technology”, which he has been offering to individuals and organisations for many years.
My long-distance conversations with him about this have been wonderfully illuminating and exciting, as I too have no intention of retiring in the conventional sense here in Portugal. I want to grow, not perish, side-by-side with other still-inspired, contribution-curious and hopeful foreigners, who are not retiring from something, more retiring to something, in this new life and supportive backdrop.
If you look Miguel up online, which I have done as an alternative to his gentle modesty, you’ll discover that “for the last 40 years, he has leveraged his gifts, expertise, and engineering background to help transform inner driven leaders into ‘High Flow’ performers through his best selling books, courses and coaching.”
His clients and students have included Silicon Valley founders, top level racecar drivers, and artists, and might now include so-called ‘retirees’, but also those heading to Portugal, or moving around the world, as he has done and is continuing to do, bringing ‘high flow’ and coherence of body, mind and spirit to the migrant mindset.
I have never been in any doubt that moving to Portugal is its own exercise in potentially positive personal development. Miguel also sees this ‘free gift’ and ‘added value’ that all can benefit from, and unlike me, promises a formal framework for engaging in the process of self-discovery that being an immigrant offers, over and above (maybe because of) the prosaic and bureaucratic aspects of the move.
Today’s words were never intended for those we might call ‘shy and retiring’, who are choosing Portugal only for its favourable conditions and a quiet life, not that there’s anything wrong with that. For them, unlikely to have read this far, I offer only best wishes and good luck. For others, wondering what the ‘third act’ could look like, if wildest dreams and long-held hopes are factored in; or what the ‘last lap’ might bring, should we choose to own that driving seat with every sinew of our body and all the potential of our minds, let’s meet up with Miguel when he arrives and together find George Bernard Shaw’s “true joy in life”.
“Being used for a purpose recognised by yourself as a mighty one,” as he put it, “being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”
Furthermore, he said: “I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”
So with Miguel, let’s ask what sort of retirement that might look like? See you at the track, metaphorically or actually!
