Our Latest 'A-Team' Profile: Meet John Tapper, Businessman & Daredevil!

John Tapper has lived in Sydney and Melbourne and worked here and overseas. He is currently in Castlemaine Victoria after a four-year spell in Vietnam volunteering to help young business leaders get ahead. One may describe his professional life as varied - variously a businessman, consultant, property developer and daredevil.

What’s your story?

I found the most taxing portion of getting older and leaving a career or material-orientated life was the diminishing address book contacts and smaller social activity which, as a single male, begins when you are no longer connected by one’s professional connections.
 
Additionally I saw many of my so-called peers ready to slide or slump into 'retirement’ of more than just their 9-5 activities or workplace. It seems for many the retirement process is a general retirement of both energy and outlook.
 
My story involves the moves I made to re-connect with people, mostly younger, and stem the trappings of ‘old’ without attempting a youth regime but staying youth-full.
 
Volunteering overseas, particularly in Asia where the stigma of old does not exist as in most western societies, produced a pattern that gave me new goals, a new environment, a sense of contribution and payback. It led to opening a company in Vietnam which has helped a great many young people start businesses and learn business skills, made a profit and career for its joint owners, and, importantly, bridged my own journey from highly active to moderately retired. 

What interests and motivates you?
 
I have been fortunate to be endlessly curious, and fortunate to be, to quote David Sokol, a colleague of Warren Buffett, 'Pleased but not Satisfied.'
 
The added time of retirement, for me, pushes the buttons of enquiry, contribution, and somehow making use of the mindful resource that a 70-plus-year-old brain with its stored experiences, failures and expectations, has for action that is no longer self-serving and financially driven or praise conscious.
 
My wonder at the volume of new tech, new pathways, and the challenges of living, demands of me that I stay involved in some way, and not be diluted or disappointed by the growing distance from youth.
 
I guess some of the motivation is via comparison...I see and talk with many aged over 50 that I do not want to be like; I have a health regime that, while not obsessive, motivates both muscle and mind to stay active and connected to the physical world and the cultural environment.

Why did you stay 4 years in Vietnam?
 
The easy answer is that it was rewarding to my ego and sense of satisfaction. That I was still relevant by being active, helping a group without the advantages of Australia, and 'getting my jollies' from being a knowledge distributor for young, bright, determined, entrepreneurs.
 
While I did not have the connections of country I had the connections of value and learnings that more than overcame shortcomings of a less than developed economy. It was fun, it felt good,and when it didn’t, I came home. A very poignant decision, as at any good party, is knowing when to leave!
 
What motivates and inspires you?
 
I am motivated by the thought and meme of being a better person, which implies a comparison and that is that many, many people, have and are doing extraordinary things well into their "Last Quarter". The inspirations and role models of active ageing and mature contribution are worldwide but you need an enquiry and healthy self-regard to tip the observation into your own actions.
 
I recall the oldies of the CWA making tea and scones endlessly for fetes and shows and country hall dances, the silly old buggers painting the village hall, helping rebuild a burnt down shearing shed, or driving someone to Sydney for medical treatment, contributing and building.
 
No trophies, no flashbulbs… just adding to the soup of the community so it both enriched and tasted good; surely that is our driver and will make the journey more enjoyable, perhaps even satisfying!

Any information is general advice, it does not take into account your individual circumstances, objectives, financial situation or needs.