There is probably a good reason everyone’s career “peaks” then falls with age, and it’s a reason other than the normal cycle of growing, learning, then aging away our effectiveness.

Many people “pass their prime” in business far too quickly, far before they are “old”, because they think they know too much.  They THINK they are still learning, but instead, they are so used to trying to be 2 steps ahead in every conversation, that they actually stop learning and simply re-learn things they learned a long time ago.

When you assume someone is thinking a certain thing, you get into patterns of trying too hard to read people’s body language and reading too much between the lines instead of listening to their actual words.   Eventually, you end up simply looking to validate your own “business prejudice”, leaning on any cue that validates your experience.

As soon as you get that cue, you stop listening and assume you know all about it.  You continue to feel smart, but you never got the message.  Don’t let this happen to you, not matter how much experience you have =o)