Lesson #4: Rejuvenate Yourself

The man who at the young age of 27 launched his multi-million dollar career turned 80 this year. “In many ways, I’m younger than I was 20 years ago,” says Hefner.

Over his 50-year career, Hefner has managed an incredible feat – he has kept all of his products, his brand and himself having a youthful appeal. To Hefner, age is just a number, and a number without meaning at that. “A person dies at 40 – through cancer, a car accident, what have you – how old is that person, really, at 38?” asks Hefner. “He’s near the end of his life, whether he knows it or not. And what about a person who dies at 100? How old is that person, really at 78?”

Hefner is a living example of the insignificance of age. His passion for his company and his desire to see it succeed remain as strong today as they did when he first started it. The key, according to Hefner, is to stay rejuvenated. Granted, Hefner’s youthfulness is largely due to his three young girlfriends, whose ages combined are 77, but they key is to recognize that it is important to rejuvenate yourself in order to remain focused and driven.

On a professional level, Hefner was able to recognize in 1988 that his Playboy empire was in dire need of rejuvenation as well. Losses were mounting as new magazine competitors such as Maxim entered the playing field and most media had now become saturated with sex, leaving Playboy with little unique appeal. Playboy Enterprises had to create a fresh image to expand its appeal and Hefner knew that he was not the one to be able to do this. Willing to sacrifice control in order to see his company continue to succeed, Hefner handed over the reigns to his daughter, Christine. Thinking that she could give both the magazine and the empire a youthful makeover, Hefner did what was necessary in the name of business.

Christine has had modest success in turning the company around. By focusing on more hard-core material, Playboy has become the leading provider of this programming on cable and satellite television. While the company’s lead revenue source may no longer be its magazine, Playboy is still a force to be reckoned with. "This on many levels is the best time for the company," Hefner says. "To have Playboy hot again with a whole new generation is unbelievable."

This is one of the keys of Playboy’s astounding success – rejuvenation. Both the company and man behind it have managed to reinvent themselves, staying fresh and current with the times. They have continued to attract clients from the new generation of consumers.

“Life by its nature is not simply dreams. It requires some compromises in order to survive,” says Hefner. One of those compromises is the willingness to reinvent yourself in order to stay ahead. It is because Hefner recognized this that his brand has remained one of the most recognizable logos for so many decades. “The miracle is that we lived through half a century of history, survived it, and we've won.”

Lesson #4: Rejuvenate Yourself

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