The Risk Isn’t Failure. It’s Being Defined by an Old Version of Yourself.

Most professionals don’t talk about this openly, but they feel it.
Not fear of losing everything. 

Not fear of starting over.
A quieter fear: Am I still relevant?

Not in a desperate, trend-chasing way, but in a deeper sense.
Does how the world knows me still reflect who I am, and what I can contribute, now?

This isn’t a new tension, but it becomes sharper later in life.
Early in your career, relevance is assumed. You’re learning, growing, moving.
Over time, success can quietly harden into identity. Titles stick. Stories repeat. Old wins become shorthand.

And if you’re not careful, the world keeps meeting you where you once were… not where you are today.

I saw a video on Instagram on the weekend that I believe captured this perfectly.
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DMVNN_YR6QK/

Two artists who broke out at the same time in the early 1990s.
Both were wildly successful.
Both were recognizable around the world.

One became known for far more than his first chapter.
Music, yes!
But also TV, movies, businesses, investing, children’s content, lifestyle content and reinvention across generations.
For thirty years, different people knew him for different things, depending on when and where they saw him.

The other built a solid life and career, but remains publicly defined by a single early hit.
Nostalgia became his brand.
The first chapter never expanded.

This isn’t a story about talent or money or celebrity.
It’s a story about outlook and a vision of how they saw the world.

One stayed curious and expansive.
The other stayed anchored to what once worked.

That same dynamic plays out quietly in professional life every day.

Staying relevant isn’t about chasing trends or reinventing yourself every few years.
In fact, the idea of “reinvention” often creates unnecessary pressure.
It suggests you must reject who you were to become something new.

In the 4th Quarter, relevance is better understood as expansion.

You don’t abandon your experience.
You build on it.
You allow the story to continue.

Expansion means letting the world know you for more than one chapter.
It means staying engaged with what matters now, even as you bring decades of perspective to the table.
It means refusing to be trapped by your own résumé.

This doesn’t require urgency or panic.
It requires intention.

Staying relevant might look like learning selectively instead of broadly.
Applying hard-earned judgment to new problems.
Sharing an insight, not just history.

Being curious about emerging conversations without needing to master everything.
It’s not about keeping up.
It’s about staying in the game.

The real risk in the 4th Quarter isn’t that you slow down or shift focus.
It’s that you stop expanding how you contribute.
Relevance doesn’t disappear overnight. It fades quietly when curiosity gives way to comfort and identity becomes fixed.

You don’t need to chase youth, trends, or attention.
You don’t need to become someone else.

But you do need to stay connected to the present, to how value is created, where conversations are happening, and how your experience can still be useful.

The goal isn’t to be famous or flashy.
It’s to remain engaged, adaptable, and alive to what’s next.

In the 4th Quarter, relevance isn’t about proving you still have it.
It’s about continuing to add chapters on your own terms.