Mind- A Crisis of Confidence for Masters of the Universe - NY Times

One good thing to come out of the current economic situation is the thinking about work related psychological and emotional issues that have always been around but not of great interest. Many people prefer to avoid thinking about the issues described by Richard A. Friedman in Mind - A Crisis of Confidence for Masters of the Universe but now it seems that it's touched so many lives that people are talking about it - out loud.

I stress "out loud" because these are issues that I/we've been dealing with for years here at DLC Executive and Career Consulting.
Things happen professionally and it can and often does affect a person's professional identity, emotional state, psychological state, interpersonal relationships, interests, goals and on and on.

It doesn't have to be fatal. The best thing a person can do is to reach out and ask for help as Dr. Friedman describes his patient doing - and as we've seen here. There are people trained to help, wanting to help and available to help but they/we can't help you unless you want it. So the first step is to reach out and get the help. Wherever and however you can. It's not worth getting physically sick over.

One thing though - I don't like the way Dr. Friedman asked if it's a gender based problem. The question is a problem in and of itself. Career identities and issues are not gender specific - to answer his question.

Anyway - you're not alone and you certainly don't have to be. If you're having difficulty dealing with the situation on your own and it's hard to see clearly through the fog and distress - reach out.

Good luck and have a good day,
Rebecca "Kiki"
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Rebecca "Kiki" Weingarten
DLC Executive and Career Consulting
For more information call 646.468.0608

Starting Over, With a Second Career Goal - NY Times

Terrific article about second careers and a new program at Harvard read it here - Starting Over, With a Second Career Goal of Changing Society. What makes me especially thrilled about all of this is that it's what I've been working on for the last couple of....how long has it been? And I'm really glad that now that there's critical mass with the Boomers starting to do it. Well, as the Boomers go so goes the nation.

As with many things I found myself ahead of the times which is difficult in its own right but so be it. Although I'm not near retirement age and quite frankly don't imagine I'll ever retire - I'll just keep going until the very end - it's something I've given a lot of thought to since I first began working. As early as 21 when I first worked with people who were near retirement or who had retired and I didn't like what I saw. Most floundered, some absolutely fell apart, some became severely depressed, some floundered and then found the next stage in their lives. They were all blindsided by the experience and the psychological as well as social and professional identity shifts that they experienced. One of my great role models is a mentor who is working at 91! She's in her second very successful career and she maintains that her longevity is due to her continued working!

I've been leading trainings, seminars and workshops on Second Career, Transitions and ACT II topics for a while now and I have to say it's some of my most gratifying work.I even mention it when working with college students because the world of work is a very different one for them than for any generation before them. I guess it's a lot like my very first job of teaching young children how to adapt and flourish in a new environment - shcool. I guess this would be teaching Early Second Careers. It's a new beginning - a new way of experiencing the world. I love it. And I'm glad that finally the world is catching up. Whew!

Enjoy the day and think of a positive and wonderful future because it's available to you if you want it - and of course work toward it.
RK
Rebecca "Kiki"
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DLC Executive and Career Consulting
646.468.0608

Intensive Career and Executive Coaching - from Daily Life Consulting Executive Coaching and Counseling

Hi,

Short term and intensive coaching. Some good news at a time when it feels like we're being bombarded with only bad news.

For those of you who have requested it (and those of you thinking about it) we've set up a new "economic crisis" coaching system. It includes;

*One 1 1/2 (one and a half) hour phone coaching session
*E-mail follow-up
*Resume review
*Strategy planning

Call 646.468.0608 for more information or email at 411 at dlcecc dot com.

RK
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Rebecca "Kiki" Weingarten
DLC Executive Coaching and Counseling