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