29. May 2010 by Teresa.

    Recently, the USA Today Weekend ran a small article detailing how teens can use their summer vacation to explore future careers. Citing ideas from What Color is Your Parachute for Teens by C. Christen and R. Bolles, the article suggested that teens could 1) get a summer job, 2) volunteer, 3) do career research, 4) job-shadow, or 5) find an internship.

My suggestion is that older workers should take the same advice and use their summer vacation for some career exploration too. The idea would be to test drive a new field and ask your self: does this interest me, would I want to work or volunteer in this field? You can do this by going on a book lovers tour in Cornwall or an archaeological dig in Colorado, visiting Micronesia to dive with sharks or volunteering in Kenya to build a school.

If you want something a little closer to home, try volunteering in your local school, leading a workshop at the area park, taking an art class at the nearby museum, or visiting patients at a local hospital. Opportunities abound for you to try out a new work, volunteer or social pursuit.

The Star-Ledger reported that once the labor market turns around, older workers are poised to benefit. The Wall Street Journal said that moving might be the best career move an individual can make. Companies need knowledge and experience, as well as compassion and patience. The health care industry in particular is developing creative strategies to recruit older adults. You will have the chance to choose your new career and the location in which you want to carry it out … as long as  you plan ahead. Travel, try it, and then live it.

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21. May 2010 by Teresa.

    Plan for life, plan for retirement when things are going well and nothing is changing!

Apparently, our judgments and our decisions are influenced by our emotions.  If we are happy, we view the world through rose-colored glasses. If we are sad, we look at the world with hazy gray lenses. Why? Research shows that individuals have difficulty envisioning a future that is different from what they are presently feeling. When life throws a curve and we get laid off or have an accident, things seem pretty bleak. It’s difficult to imagine the dreams we once had, never mind actually think that they could come true.

So what does this mean for our lives? Think of what you want to be “when you grow up” or where you want to live when things are good. For it is only then that you can foresee multiple paths to very attainable dreams, such as starting a new career, moving to the mountains, or publishing your first book. Afifi & Morse (2009) note how negative moods narrow our focus and trigger more careful processing of information. When we are in a bad mood, we just can’t see the forest through the trees; even if we could we would get ourselves stuck in such a “what if” or “how could” cycle that we would never even take one step forward.

In addition, we rely on our current affective states to anchor our perceptions of others’ emotional states (Afifi & Morse, 2009). In other words, we have a hard time believing that others are in different moods than we are. If we are married, considerable conflict can occur when one person is filled with positive emotions and the other negative. One spouse is ready to make plans, live out dreams, while the other is stuck and uncertain how to move forward. A way to avoid this is to lay out steps for a new phase of life when the current one is going well for both of you. Don’t wait until change happens … your mind and heart just might not be ready for it.

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13. May 2010 by Teresa.

    Take our poll posted on LinkedIn asking “What worries you most about retirement?” at http://polls.linkedin.com/p/88473/jphrv

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