Don’t Die At 25: Why Staying Hungry and Staying Foolish Is The Answer.

Written By: Brad Pedersen

My wife often teases me about being a big kid; mischievous, playful and always seeking the next adventure. While some might interpret that as a reluctance to grow up, I consider it a compliment. 

My zest for life manifests in various ways, like the photo above of me getting creative on my mountain bike.  For me, staying playful and curious—while continually pushing boundaries and exploring new possibilities—isn’t just a preference, it’s how I believe we’re wired to thrive as humans.

In my book, Start of Santa, I delve into the positive attributes of childlike wonder: imagination, hope, curiosity, excitement, and faith. Children believe anything is possible and are infinitely curious about the world around them; a leaf, a caterpillar, a raindrop….all wondrous and with it the ability to captivate one’s imagination. The zest found in the life of a child is unmatched and should inspire us to remain ever youthful.

However somewhere along the way we are told to “grow up” becoming mature and responsible. And while becoming more intentional and responsible is expected, that does not mean we should stop embracing our child-like sense of curiosity and wonder.

Embracing the Wisdom of Staying Hungry and Foolish

One of my favorite speeches is Steve Jobs’ Stanford commencement address, where he closes with a now-famous exhortation: “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” 

Remaining hungry and foolish is ultimately about preserving our willingness to explore, grow, and remain open. As children, this comes easily; our imaginations run wild, curiosity is boundless, and the world feels endlessly fascinating. However, as we age, life’s inevitable challenges, disappointments, responsibilities and setbacks; quietly convince us to trade wonder for predictability, and adventure for comfort.

Benjamin Franklin is often credited with saying, “Most people die at 25 but aren’t buried until 75.” It would be a humorous thing to say except that it is true; with his sentiment made clear: many stop truly living long before their life ends. 

The spark fades and curiosity gets replaced with caution. Without even realizing it, we go from being participants in our own story to passive observers; bystanders in the very life we were meant to shape.

Life Long Learning

In my own life, I’ve experienced seasons of deep engagement and others marked by disconnection. Looking back, the common thread during the most fulfilling times was growth. And that growth only truly happened when I leaned into an open mindset and was willing to step beyond the safety of my comfort zone.

Today, I see myself as a lifelong learner; someone who embraces the idea that there is no final destination, only the ongoing journey of becoming. This belief keeps me anchored in growth, helping me resist the quiet slide into comfort, complacency, and apathy. It touches every part of my life: my fitness, marriage, parenting, business, coaching, and especially in adventure, where I still find much joy in pushing the possibilities with my mountain bike.

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Choosing to improve ourselves, especially when the world offers countless ways to be distracted and to avoid discomfort, is on its own a radical and courageous act. It’s easy to become static as we age, to rely on convenience instead of curiosity. 

Why put in the effort to learn a new language when Google Translate can do the work? Why try your hand at an instrument when your favorite music is just a tap away? Why challenge yourself with a new skill when it’s easier to unwind with Netflix? The answer is simple: because it’s through growth that we awaken more meaning within us and how we stay fully alive, engaged, and connected to our sense of purpose.

Pursuing your full potential is one of the most life-affirming choices we can make. It’s how we stay sharp, how we remind ourselves that we can change, adapt, and evolve. More importantly, it’s how we discover all the possibilities within us.

The Science of Growth

Dr. Carol Dweck is a professor of psychology at Stanford University. In her groundbreaking book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, she writes, “For twenty years, my research has shown that the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life. It can determine whether you become the person you want to be and whether you accomplish the things you value.”

Dweck outlined two core belief systems: the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. 

A fixed mindset assumes that qualities like intelligence and talent are static; either you have them or you don’t. This leads to a deep fear of failure, a hunger for external approval, and a mistaken belief that your current limitations are permanent.

In contrast, a growth mindset views abilities and character as dynamic and malleable. With effort, learning, and persistence, anything can be developed. This mindset also fosters intrinsic motivations, a healthy relationship with failing, and a strong belief that starting points don’t define final outcomes.

People with a growth mindset navigate life with optimism and resilience. They don’t tie their identity solely to achievements. Instead, they ground it in effort, process, and the commitment to continual improvement. They know that good things are not simply handed over, they are shaped through dedication in an imperfect world, where progress matters more than perfection.

It’s through that context that we see the genius of Job’s words of remaining “hungry and foolish,” and why it is more than just a catchy mantra. It’s a call to never succumb to a fixed mindset but to instead to keep growing, to keep learning and to keep pushing the boundaries of not just who we are today but who we can become tomorrow.

A Life of Becoming

In 1974, a young Steve Jobs traveled to India seeking spiritual insight; a journey that would deeply shape his worldview. During his time there, he developed a profound admiration for Mahatma Gandhi and his philosophy of nonviolence, simplicity, and moral clarity. 

Gandhi’s impact on Jobs was evident in various aspects of his life and work. He carried a picture of Gandhi in his wallet and even adopted Gandhi’s iconic round glasses style. Furthermore, Gandhi was featured prominently in Apple’s 1997 “Think Different” advertising campaign, highlighting individuals who changed the world through their unique vision . 

It feels especially fitting that Steve Jobs’ famous closing words: “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”—resonate so closely with one of Gandhi’s most enduring insights: “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you might live forever.” Both serve as timeless reminders that life is at once fleeting and full of possibility and that the most meaningful way to live is with curiosity, courage, and an open-hearted commitment to becoming all we are meant to be.

Ultimately, staying hungry and foolish is about resisting the false finish lines the world so often offers us. It’s about rejecting the notion that we’ve “arrived,” and instead, embracing a life that is always in motion and always evolving.

The pursuit of growth isn’t just for the ambitious or just the young, it’s for all of us and is part of what makes us truly human. It’s how we stay attuned to possibility and grounded in our pursuit of our purpose while creating more meaning with our life. 

Perhaps most importantly, it’s how we reconnect with the deepest parts of who we are: not just what we’ve accomplished, or what we have acquired but who we really are now, and who we are yet to become.

So here’s your gentle invitation: take a moment this week to pause and reflect.

Where in your life have you stopped being curious and instead are settling for?

In your close relationships, work or physical health have you caught yourself saying/thinking “it is what it is” or “this is what it will always be”?

What part of you might be craving new growth but hasn’t yet had permission to stretch?

Are you chasing comfort or choosing curiosity?

Let this be the season where you rekindle wonder. Where you stretch again. Where you move not just toward what’s next, but toward who you’re truly meant to become.

Because the world doesn’t need more grownups who’ve settled.

It needs more childlike sages, filled with wonder and curiosity as they dare to continue to learn and grow.

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