What We Can Learn From Robert Redford
What we can learn from Robert Redford. He was legendary on film and just as legendary for conservation and preservation. He believed deeply that open space and Nature are inseparable from quality of life. He once said he would not have made it in Hollywood without easy access to Wilderness.
As if the competitive life of an actor weren’t tough enough on one’s psyche, Redford was criticized, judged, and projected upon with adept ruthlessness. Yet I believe he wanted open space and Wilderness protected in perpetuity for everyone, not just for himself.
Robert Redford passed away peacefully on September 9, 2025. He was a man with a purpose—with a capital P. By paying attention, one could see he lived by his own internal compass.
He fought to protect a tributary of one of the premier fly-fishing streams in the West. He opposed a coal-fired power plant proposed for the Kaiparowits Plateau in southern Utah—land now protected within the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument. When the plant’s construction was cancelled, champions of coal blamed Redford. Read the full story in the Salt Lake Tribune.
What we can learn from Robert Redford here at Fly Fisher Fitness is Redford’s rare example as someone who grew older without ever growing old. His heart, spirit, and physical vitality endured. I like to think much of that youthfulness came from his deep connection to Nature.
His conservation ethic began after a transformative experience at Yosemite, which he recalled in a 2016 interview.
“I had a mild case of polio—not enough to put me in an iron lung, but enough to keep me bedridden for weeks. As I came out of it, my mom wanted to do something for me. She realized that, growing up in the city, I’d missed out on a lot of nature. So she drove me to Yosemite. If you’re coming from Fresno, you go through a mile-long tunnel, and when we came out the other side, I was blown away. We stopped to look at the view, and when I went to the edge—well, I said to myself, ‘I don’t want to look at this. I want to be in this.’”
Redford returned to Yosemite years later and, like me, worked for the Department of the Interior. He carried that foundation, that love of wild places into every part of his life and work.
Thank you, Robert Redford.
What We Can Learn From Robert Redford: His Essential Youthful Heart
What matters more—the news channel you watch, or your health, functionality, and how you are maneuvering the aging process?
As a society, we are more obese and chronically ill than at any time in history. Yet our energy, outrage, and radicalism are skewed toward what is exasperating and beyond our control.
Meanwhile, people suffer and die too young, cursing at the television, shaking their fists, and screaming about who is right.
Wouldn’t it be more productive to redirect that energy? To discover the agency you possess and reclaim your life? With new awareness and deliberate effort, you could change your trajectory and take your life in a new direction.
The strength and endurance you develop—the bonus years you gain—your youthful heart could then be used to influence what truly matters.
We are dedicated dedicated to redirecting our energies.
Everyone gets older. But very few will not get old.
Our new community building effort on Substack will involve you with incentive, science, and lived experience—what is possible. You will see the control you have with renewed clarity.
He Shaped His Life
You too are biologically wired to shape how your life unfolds. A rich life of strength, vitality, and longevity requires wisdom—not only the kind found in books and intellectual pursuits but also the deep understanding carved into the soul by decades of deceptively simple, unglamorous, repetitive effort. It’s the wisdom that comes from showing up again and again.
It takes years of mistakes—lessons in the making—staying strong and committed through discomfort, trusting that the protracted process is working in your favor.
The trouble is, cementing the necessary layers of understanding that help us master our lives is a process of accumulation that requires longevity. Not just living long enough, but having the durability, energy, and vitality to remain committed, engaged, regardless of age.
Are you interested in more? Get in on the founder level. We are building a community of like-minded fly fishers and outdoor types who want to engage and discuss An Aging Lifestyle.
Categorized in: General Knowledge