Get Involved and Learn!

It's almost fall.  Labor Day signaled the last day of summer vacations.  School has begun and the yellow buses are packing the roads once again. But learning isn't just for kids.  One of the secrets we have discovered from people we have interviewed over the years is that learning is ageless, fun, and engaging.  Whether you are 50 or 90, continuing to learn improves vitality and increases energy.  Learning is a form of REWIRING.  It doesn't matter what you call it.  Continuous or life long learning mean the same thing.  The important point is that you do it.

 

One of America's wisest sons, Benjamin Franklin, was voracious in his desire to learn, to explore, to travel, and acquire new perspective.  He never stopped doing it and was the richer for it.  After a long life, he reflected on what and how he learned.  He said:

"Tell me and I forget.  Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."  These are words to live by.

We all learn differently. We do so by listening to others in a lecture, by visiting historical sites and talking and listening to guides, by doing hands on volunteering. The internet has opened vast amounts of knowledge for all of us to know.  If you have never watched a TED Talks, you are missing something very special.  Try it. We know you will like it.  You can also secure DVDs at your local library on just about anything.

One form we recommend above all the others, is putting yourself together with other seekers.  You will benefit from the collective questions, knowledge, and enthusiasm that groups provide.  Community colleges, museums, and traveling with others on a themed tour or vacation are just a few of the activities that can lead to knowledge, new friendships, and broadening your perspective.

Geography shouldn’t be a barrier.  You can learn locally, go to another state, or travel to another country, or never leave home. After all you can learn in a group on an interactive webcast.  You can learn regardless of your budget.  Now there are learning venues for everyone.

So as Ben said: Get Involved and Learn!

 

50 + Workers: Put Your Best Self Forward!

The job market for the 50+ age group seems to be improving.  Slowly unemployment is declining. But mature workers continue to meet obstacles (real and imagined) that are preventing them from working.  AARP has provided some excellent articles and tools for this group.  One of their articles published earlier this year, How Should Older Workers Navigate the Job Market? is particularly helpful.  They also have a Life Reimagined for Work section which provides tools for job seekers.

There are many reasons why this group is seeking employment: need the money for themselves, to support children, grandchildren, or parents; miss the social environment work provides; want to continue to use their skills or develop new ones.  The list goes on. 

Research, our own and from others’, has unearthed that many people ages 50-65 who are seeking a job are physically and/or emotionally tired and anxious.  Some have disabilities that make working an even greater challenge. These circumstances make it even harder to keep looking. Unfortunately burn out, rust out, and the apathy that comes from repeated disappointment is telegraphing their state of mind to interviewers. As one HR staffer told us, “They look rejected before the interview even starts.  Where is the motivation? Quite a few let their anger at their circumstances seep through. Some actually say that they never expected they would have to be working at this life stage.” Not very positive, is it?

We recommend that people get to know their drivers....reasons why they work beyond a paycheck.  Knowing your drivers will improve your chances of finding a job that you are happy about doing.  We recently asked staffing executives what these mature job seekers can do to set themselves apart from the pack and highlight their talents.  Here are a few suggestions they offered.

1. Show up prepared and dressed appropriately. Look like you want the job.
2. Never forget you are a skills merchant. Tell us what you have done to keep your skills relevant and up to date, e.g. do you take classes, attend seminars, get training. Remember it is a competition (we suggest individuals take the Rewirement Ramp Up Quiz to get to know themselves better before the interview).
3. Be prepared to talk specifics.  Tell us what you have that is pertinent to our job opening and our business.
4. Be confident.  If you act dejected you will be rejected.
5. When we ask, “What do you know about our company?” be able to answer it with specifics.  Research their website, read Google articles, find out who their major competitors are, and if you can ask current or former employees about the culture.  You would be amazed how many people never go on the company website prior to the interview.  What a lost opportunity.

It sounds simple, but finding a job over the age of 50 is not easy.  Nothing worth getting is easy. However, many people over 50 are finding employment.  So if you are looking for a job or thinking about it. Get ready; Get Rewired; then go for it.

 

INVENTING YOUR NEW JOB

Tom Friedman recently wrote in his column in the New York Times that Boomers had it easy when they first started out in their careers. All they had to do was “find a job.” He contrasts that with today’s recent college graduates who may be lucky enough to find a job, but more than likely will have to “invent” their own job. The internet has alleviated the need to know or memorize facts.  After all any internet connected device (I-phone, Blackberry, Droid, I-Pad, tablet computer, etc.) can access facts on the internet. The key however is not to know the facts, but to know what to do with the facts at your finger-tips.

 This has become the challenge of the mature worker (defined as anyone over the age of 40).  If they can’t find a job, they must invent one and become an entrepreneur, or an outsourcing agent for someone’s business.  Let’s say you are 60 years of age.  You were forced to retire early.  But you still need an income because the retirement savings you planned on were used to pay for your child’s education, your Mother’s eldercare, and the new car to replace the old one that just died with 200,000+ miles on the odometer. Starting your own business isn’t easy especially when financial resources are slim.  What do you do now?

A significantly important ingredient to a successful career “invention” is to identify your DRIVERS before you start something new.  DRIVERS are the emotional rewards we derive from work, play, fun that gives us a significant level of satisfaction and holds our interest.  We conducted research with pre and post retirees.  We asked one question: “Why do you work beyond the paycheck.”  We got back 85 different reasons: to have accomplishments, to use my skills, continuous learning, make a difference, mentor, etc.  The length of the list surprised us.  The responses were so impressive that we wrote a book about them.  Don’t Retire, REWIRE!  Knowing your DRIVERS and aligning them to the work you do or business you start is a major key to success.  The opportunity to get driver fulfillment is usually the difference between toil and drudgery or looking forward to getting up in the morning to do something that satisfies, stimulates, excites, and engages. 

If you need to find work or “invent it,” make sure your DRIVERS are getting fulfilled. Take the DRIVERS test.  Don’t worry about the facts.  You can download them!

What you can learn from the artist, Claude Monet

If you haven’t been to the New York Botanical Garden, this would be a good time to go. There is a wonderful celebration exhibit of the artist, Claude Monet’s Garden. Monet’s original flower garden still exists at this home turned museum in Giverny, France. The New York version is a fantastic recreation true to Monet’s vision. His garden was a love and vocation that lasted most of his adult life. His famous Water Lilies paintings came from seeing the garden almost every day, every season and every year for over 50 years.

Monet kept painting them until he died at age 86, because each time he saw them, they looked different. He loved to wake up in the morning and looked forward to each day. Some would say he never rewired. Other’s would say that he rewired every time he did a new painting. We think it’s the latter. Ask any gardener and they will tell you that everyday a garden changes. Something grows. Something dies. Animals and birds cycle in and out. It is never stagnant, but always dynamic and changing. Just like us humans.

He never bored of it. In fact he marveled at his good fortune that he was able to paint so many canvases. France commissioned him to create a series of extremely large paintings of the Water Lilies now housed in Paris at the L’Orangerie, a national treasure. It is an artistic memorial to those who died serving France during the First World War. If you can’t get to Paris go on line an see them or go to one of the museums in the U.S. that has one of his paintings.

The New York Botanical Garden held its annual Patrons Lecture earlier this summer, under written by the Carnegie Foundation at Sotheby’s in New York City. Professor Paul Hayes Tucker, the foremost authority in the world on Monet and a consultant on the exhibit delighted the audience, us included, with insights on Monet, Art, and life. Monet had the good fortune of never retiring. He painted until the end. He used his creative gifts and frequently asked the question, “Why would I ever stop painting? It is what I love most.” Fortunately for the world he was never forced to retire by an age limit or a corporate policy or even a limiting disability…he had cataracts.

So for all of our readers who love what they do, keep doing it. And for those who dislike what they do, retire if you can, and Get REWIRED. Dive into new activities and interests and find one that will nourish and sustain you for the rest of your life. Once you find that special something you can evolve into someone who thrills to wake up in the morning. Just like Monet did!

…And She Never Mentioned Sex!

You can imagine how stunned and dismayed we were when a friend recently said “only young people are creative.” We couldn’t believe that she actually felt that way! We are true believers in ageless creativity and asked her, what about Grandma Moses, Colonel Sanders (founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken) and the architect, Philip Johnson? They were all up in years when they were achieving great things!

“Does that mean an older person can’t be creative?” we asked. She tried to back pedal but we didn’t let her up for air. “So you think every young person is full of innovation and creativity?” Well not always, she mumbled. Truth is we know many young people who don’t have a creative bone in their body! Yet somewhere in the last twenty or thirty years, it became standard to assume that brilliance was the exclusive territory of the young. Wrong! There have been many flashes of creativity, even works of brilliance generated by those not typified as fresh or new. Let’s face it, a 60, 70, even 80 year old person can look at life with an experienced eye that can lead to all sorts of creative possibilities. And yes that usually happens when the person themselves are flexible and open to change.

Authors and composers often maintain their creativity well beyond what is considered normal “retirement age.” Herman Wouk, author of The Caine Mutiny and The Winds of War, might just have celebrated his 97th birthday in May but just a few days earlier the 96-year-old novelist had sold his latest novel to Simon & Schuster. The book entitled, The Lawgiver follows the production of a movie about Moses through “letters, memos, emails, journals, news articles, recorded talk, tweets, Skype transcripts, and text messages!” Talk about innovation and using the latest in technology and social media! And this from a man in his 90’s!

Ray Bradbury, the science fiction fantasy master, recently died at 91. Although slowed in recent years by a stroke that meant he had to use a wheelchair, Bradbury remained active, turning out new novels, plays, screenplays and a volume of poetry up until the end. He wrote every day in the basement office of his Cheviot Hills, California home and appeared from time to time at bookstores, public library fundraisers and other literary events around Los Angeles.

And what about LeRoy Neiman, artist of bold life and bright canvasses, who died at age 91? He once told an AP reporter, "I just love what I do. I love the passion you go through while you're creating, and the public's "very thoughtful and careful studied and emotional reaction of what you're doing."

Then there is the composers we all know and love, like Handel, Bach, Liszt, and Puccini who continued to produce new scores well into their 70s. And think about this--when they lived the life expectancy of a male was around 40-47 years old.

But we think that the award for creative longevity goes to Jean MacLeod, Britain’s oldest romantic novelist. She spent her 101st birthday, 2 years ago, beginning her 130th novel. She said at the time that money was never her motivation for writing. She simply loved knowing that people were enjoying what she wrote. That was reward enough. The money earned was a simply a bonus. And the most amazing part is that she never mentions the word “sex” in any of her novels. Love, romance, tenderness, but not “what goes on in the bedroom.”

So have you let your creativity dry up? Or are you someone who still wants to find your creative bone? We believe that this is all a part of the Rewiring® process; but a lot depends on your attitude and how hungry you are to make it happen.

You don’t have to write, compose music, or even do something that is creative by traditional standards. What we are saying is don’t be put off by thinking that creativity belongs to the young. How you define creativity is up to you but if you want to take that piano lesson, take it, If you want to sketch, go out and buy a sketch pad. This is a way to rewire your life and your brain at the same time. Using your imagination engages your brain and actually keeps you healthier and more engaged with life. What could be better?

Think about taking a class in the Fall; or how about going on a learning vacation? Don’t forget about your local library or YWCA to hear a speaker on a topic of interest. And remember it is NEVER too late to discover a hidden talent or two. Do it for yourself.

Retiring and Rewiring at the Opera

New York is a magical place. Yesterday afternoon we experienced some of that magic at a Metropolitan Opera Guild event.This event was sponsored by the Adult Learning and Community Engagement team headed up by Director, Dottie Allen. We got to watch recent retiree and opera legend, Frederica Von Stade conduct a master class. Did we say retiree? Yes, she officially retired, but continues to use her voice in a variety of ways...still singing, teaching, being an ambassador for the world of Opera. There can be no better person representing the art. Flicka, as she likes to be called, is kind, supportive, enthusiastic, and a sparkplug that ignites audiences. She is rewiring her talent and interest by expanding her opera and musical horizons. The students she helped were amazing. So much talent and so much commitment.

We're new to opera. Jeri started with Opera Boot Camp and Rick will be taking the course in the fall. We are learning a new vocabulary, history, meeting new people, and finding joy that we never could have imagined in an art form we didn't know much about. We really are rewiring our tastes and expanding our horizons. It is giving us so much driver fulfillment...continuous learning, making new connections with others, feeling energized, developing new friendships. It is amazing how many people we've met who are retiring and rewiring to the world of opera.

Opera sounds expensive. And it could be if all you did was buy the best seats at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center. But how about trying opera out by going to a high definition live performance at a movie theater, opting for a high balcony seat and bringing binoculars, buying or downloading a CD, or going to an opera related lecture. You can make it expensive or customize it to fit your budget. The Metropolitan Opera Guild is there to help you get started on the journey. Take the first step. You will be glad you did.

Dancing with the Stars:Entertainment or Inspiration?

Recently I was talking to a friend about the television show Dancing with the Stars. She told me how much she liked watching it. I know it's popular and two years ago I blogged about how some of the stars had rewired their sagging careers by appearing on the show. It remains one of the highest rated tv shows in U.S. history. I asked myself, what is so terrific that makes viewers tune in to ABC every week since 2005 to watch lesser known stars who are nonprofessional dancers compete for a dance prize that has no monetary value?

I asked my friend why she liked it. Her response was awesome, and it wasn't just because handsome pro football player Hines Ward ( pictured above)appeared on the show and won. She didn't offer just one reason. There were many: seeing the competition, the energy, the costumes, the sacrifice, the raw emotions that overtake the winners and the losers, the willingness of the nonprofessional dancers to stretch themselves in an extremely physically demanding way, watching people who had lost prominence come back into the spotlight and give it their all.

Her last and most important reason summed it up, "They inspire me to want to try something new. Not dancing necessarily, but something that I have never done before and to take the risk that I might fail. I have lived too much in my own comfort zone and the clock is ticking"

In our book, Don't Retire, REWIRE! we advocate trying new things, rewiring personal energy and taking a risk knowing that you might fail. But if you don't try, you will never know if you would have been a failure or succeded to the point that it would change your in very positive ways. Dancing with the Stars is a metaphor for life. Don't forget you can just watch the show and let it be a brief distraction from your everyday life or at its best the show may inspire you to do something new. But ONLY you can take that inspiration and turn it into personal motivation. Whether its to get out there and dance, learn a new sport, try a new career, take a trip to someplace you have never been before, or volunteer to help others. I guess it all comes down to doing the dance of life, and we all know that learning new steps isn't always easy, but if you don't try.... You know what I mean.

AN AFRICAN SAFARI BIRTHDAY ADVENTURE

I'm out of Africa or rather back from South Africa and Namibia after having had an extraordinary three weeks there!I have always wanted to go on a safari; it's been high on my dream list so we went this year to celebrate my birthday. I love it when people ask, "what did you do on your birthday?" and I say "I was out hunting rhinos"..with a camera! (Note the photo!)

Now some people might say..."so going on safari was on your bucket list?" To be honest, you can call the list a bucket list, dream list, life's to do list, or even things that I will be bummed if I never do in my life list! I don't care what you call your list but I do care that you have a list.

Now I also have much smaller things on my dream list. In fact the things you put on your list should not all be safari-size, but they should be personally yours. I love animals so we went with a group called Wilderness Safaris because I want to be more aware of animal behavior, their environment and the circle of life, as they say in THE LION KING. I also wanted to see the BIG 5--- leopard, lion, elephant, rhino and cape buffalo up close and personal, and I did.

So I'll ask what's on your list? Do you have a list? For some people it could be pretty basic..you want a job; or a new career or more clients. For others it could be a fulfilling relationship and for others they want to fly fish in Costa Rica (remember as I work with people on their rewiring, I hear all kinds of dreams!).

So as you look forward to the New Year start to take a few mintues to think about what you are dreaming about and I hope that it is more than sugar plums!

Ants in Your Pants Are A Good Thing

Jim Sollisch recently published an article in The Wall Street Journal entitled:"Ants in Your Pants? You Will Probably Live Longer."

The premise of the article is that the more you move, bounce, fidget, or even go for a walk, the healthier you will be and as a result live longer. In so many words fidgeting is good for your body and your brain.

When I was a kid, and always doing "stuff," I remember my parents saying...what's the matter with you? Can't you sit still? In fact they have been telling me to sit still since I was about 3 years old, and I always equated it with buzzing around like a bumble bee.

Now as a grown up I realize that we have advocated something similar in our book, Don't Retire, REWIRE! Except in the book we call it rewiring®. Rewiring® is taking energy previously used in one area (typically work) and moving it into new, fulfilling activities. The simple act of shifting energy moves people around into new work, volunteering, learning new sports, games,or devoting time to hobbies and other life enhancing endeavors.
In his article Jim says that stepping back from the computer and email actually improves results,and you will also lose weight. You may also gain a new zest for life. Now that's two good reasons to get moving and get rewired®.

12 PRINCIPLES FOR CHANGE

Over the weekend I was at a party and "change" was on everyone's mind. Each person wanted to, or was being forced to, make some type of change in their life. The desired change ran the gamut from changing their work, their weight, their time management, or moving into their next and not knowing what to do! The needs were as diverse as the ways in which people were approaching change.

Thinking about them, and all of us who want to change something in our life but are undeclared as of yet, I went into some old "paper" files and found a long forgetten list entitled: 12 Principles of Change. I don't know where I got it...I don't claim initial ownership of it, but I do take responsibility for getting the list to you over the next few blogs. I have listed the top four principles below.

Read them, then read them again. They look simple until you reflect on them and apply them to your life. The Top 4 Principles are as follows:

• Purpose- We are happiest when moving toward a goal.
• Perspective-Situations may look different depending on our point of view.
• Balance- Nature hates imbalance. Most problems are a sign that an imbalance has occurred.
• Escalation- Doing the same thing usually gets the same result.If we are not succeeding we need to change the balance of forces.

Just a few thoughts to get you going on your road to change and rewiring! Use these principles to coach yourself!

INSIGHTS FROM MILES DAVIS

A few months ago I wrote that I was getting into jazz. I was spending time listening to it, and going to jazz clubs with "smart" jazz friends who would graciously answer my naive questions. Then over the Thanksgiving weekend I took a deep diveon the topic and read the book, MILES, The Autobiography, written by Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe in 1989.

To put it mildly, Miles Davis lived a fast life. He had to overcome many demons and he holds nothing back in this book. I guess that is why I was so entranced by it. But I will admit that his language is extrememely colorful, so if you read it don't say that I didn't warn you!

The book cover states that "for more than 40 years Miles Davis was in the forefront of American music." I know that people have a wide range of reactions to Miles Davis, both the man and the musician but as I read the book what struck me was that Miles Davis was constantly rewiring himself when it came to his music.

I began to see a correlation with some of the people I had met this past year who have asked me...how do I stay in the game? How do I compete? It is highly competitive today regardless of one's field or one's age. Miles Davis made me realize each of us HAS to be our own critic. At age 49 when Miles Davis saw younger musicians coming on the scene he made the statement," I'm not prepared to be a memory yet," and he went out there and learned what it takes to stay in the game!

He hired younger band members. He dressed differently. He added percussion instruments to the mix and he gained an understanding of why Jimi Hendrix, SLY, James Brown and PRINCE were having success. He could have hung it up and complained, but he didn't.

Yes, I know that I'm overlaying my interpretation on what Miles Davis did, on what each of us can do, but it works. If we're still playing the same old song, with the same old beat, with the same old band then we need to change.

Tony Bennett was an original inspiration for us when we wrote DON'T RETIRE, REWIRE! When he did the MTV show Tony Bennett UNPLUGGED, and then went on to make duets with KD Lang we caught the fever and thought of him as a role model for rewiring!

Maybe neither Tony nor Miles works for you, but find someone who does and go make some changes in your life that keep you in the game!

JAY LENO REWIRES HIMSELF and NBC!

I became a Jay Leno fan years ago. I was bummed to see him moved aside for Conan but since I do work in the mature worker category I understood what was happening. At 59 I knew that Jay was not ready to stop working...and why should he? If you love what you do, why stop? To me it is very apparent that to Jay "work is fun!" Some of you might be shocked when you read this ...work and fun in the same sentence, you ask? Isn't that an oxymoron? For some yes, but NOT FOR EVERYONE! and definitely not for Jay Leno!

I won't surmise what Jay's drivers are, although we do identify 85 drivers, or motivators in DON'T RETIRE, REWIRE! for why we all work beyond a paycheck. If Ihad to guess I would say that he has a high need for accomplishments, to stay creative and to be competitive.

And to do that he had to take a risk and so did NBC, hence the birth of The Jay Leno Show! Rewiring is about moving energy into new and different areas, which is what they both did, and now we literally need to stay tuned to watch how Jay's rewirement goes. There are always critics and supporters and remember rewirings do not happen over night.

Let's be honest---the future is about risk. Will it be worse to take a risk, or to not take one? That is the question that many boomers will have to ask themselves. You need to know yourself: are you risk oriented, risk averse or somewhere in between?

When we choose to rewire we need to face the reality that a lot of it has to do with risk AND reward. So I'm advocating that regardless of the economy or challenges that we are facing, that each of us takes the time to assess our drivers and to analyze our own risk factor. And while we're doing that let's see how Jay rewires. His rewiring is on TV...five nights a week...in front of the world. Ours isn't, so take a small step toward rewiring yourself. For most of us our rewiring will not be covered by the media!