On Not Changing as You Grow Older

Published on Oct 18, 2026, filed under misc. (Share this post, e.g., on Mastodon.)

I believe there’s a lot of nonsense around age and what it means to get older. Ageism is generally dumb, and people don’t realize what they do to themselves when auto-suggesting that they lose any or all abilities over time. This is not to say that there are no changes—but that these changes may 1) have unexplored reasons and 2) not be inevitable.

What reminded me of this is my recent work on starting up my YouTube channel (PeerTube edition upcoming).

I was unusually slow to ramp up, toying with the idea for one or two years. (My partner might correct me and point at half a decade—I wouldn’t be surprised!) I dabbled here, I researched there, I prepared this, and purchased that.

I wondered about the slowness: Clearly, I’m predominantly a writer who’s also running a number of websites and tools, but I’m strong at getting things started—and seeing them through.

It took me until the other day to realize what was going on:

It was what I’m good at (or confident about).

I’m not yet good at or confident about making videos.

Now, this may feel strange—what’s the matter?

The problem is not this fact—we all know that when you start at something, you’ll do it poorly, quickly ramp up (Pareto), and then spend the rest of your life trying to master it (if you opt to).

The problem is the expectation.

I didn’t realize that I had not an impossible but still a pretty high expectation for my video work.

That was my brake.

Is this gone now? No—but on realizing this and reminding myself of my beginnings as a blogger (20 years ago!), I eventually unblocked myself, and started publishing.

Now, while we can never conclude that others are dealing with the same challenge that we are—we also know that we’re never the only ones.

Therefore, the point is: As you grow older, monitor your expectations. They have a significant influence on what you try or take on.

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m an engineering lead, guerrilla philosopher, and indie publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead and engineering manager at various companies (e.g., Google); I’m an active web and tool developer (code optimization, digital defense), a contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and a book author (O’Reilly, Frontend Dogma).

I love trying things—in web development and engineering management, but also in politics and philosophy, where I hold to one idea in particular: that we can only be well if we take good care of everyone. Here on meiert.com I talk about some of my perspectives and experiences. (Interpret charitably but be critical—and share feedback and advice that makes my work better.)