Reinventing your career - and life!

I often meet with clients in their late 40s or early to mid 50s who talk about being too old, over the hill, not employable because of their age or who think they will start accessing their transition to retirement pension when they are 55.  And if they keep carrying on that way, their self talk will become a self fulfilling prophecy!

So, how do I deal with such clients?  Easy - one laminated slide with a summary of the Australian life tables - male and female.  I take their current age and give them their statistical life expectancy (statistical - not guaranteed - my PI insurance doesn't go that far ....! ) and ask them what they want to be when they grow up? This is the same thing I do in my Retirement Coaching - a new field in Australia where there are less than 15 of us qualified as Certified Retirement Coaches.

 I say they have as many years to live as they have been probably been working - and the hard yards have already been done in that previous 30 years - career, relationship(s), marriage(s), divorce(s), retrenchment (s), kids, houses, mortgages etc.  And it is now time to re-invent.

I use the singer Madonna as a role model - for re-invention only!  Love or hate her for her singing, morals, image etc - I will always give her credit for re-inventing herself every 3-5 years.  And she is now over 50. 

So, I say think like you are 20 again.  Time to do another course - even if a 4 year degree full time. Pursue another career, have another gap year.  Do more volunteering, Get married (again).   The important thing is - DO something.

So my 10 tips for career re-invention:

1. Use the Madonna approach – every 3-5 years

2. Understand your personality, brain, work behaviours – and align your purpose, role and life to these

3. Read books, blogs, websites - anything - and exercise the brain.  One interesting book is "Halftime" – talks about that up to the age 50 its about success and after 50 about significance.

4. Understand what Retirement is all about – that may motivate to reinvent – see my commentary on this.  Just thinking about what retirement means may motivate you to do something.

5. Understand your life expectancy – it probably gives you a longer time frame than you are thinking now.

6. Understand when your money will run out if you don't re-invent - and whether you wish to live a subsistence existence on the age pension.

7. Have a 2020 Vision - in other words what the year 2020 looks like for you - and what is going to happen between now and then.

8. Get up to speed with technology – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Tweetdecks, Podcasts, ipods etc - its exciting and makes you look relevant.

9. Review your personal image and presentation – don’t look old.  Colour the hair, get fit, shave off the 20 year moustache/beard, update the wardrobe etc.

10. And use the Madonna approach - AGAIN - every 3to 5 years.

And how do I know all this.  I have done it - re-invent at the age of 47.  Gone from being a Chartered Accountant, Operations Director and Corporate guy to a self employed Business, Executive and Retirement Coach - and I have just turned 50.  I see my new career going for another 25 years - and I am having so much FUN.

So, DO something.  Make a conscious decision that anything is possible - with patience, focus and persistence.  And have fun along the way... :-)

PB

Copyright:  Peter Black 2009