Am I too Old to Change Careers?

by cjxpadmin | Aug 1, 2012 | August 2012 Magazine, This Issue's FEATURE

Am I Too Old To Change Careers?

You said you want to change your career at this stage of the game? Well, let me tell you that you are never too old.

Today, most of us are finding ourselves having to work much longer than we ever imagined. The days of an early retirement have been thrown out the window, so to speak. However, working in our later years provides an opportunity to re-invent ourselves, to re-discover our hidden talents, and to pursue new ventures. This time in our lives gives us the chance to pursue the dreams that were left untapped, those things that we really wanted to do, but couldn’t because you all of a sudden find yourself with a family and obligations. Now, we are much wiser, have a lot of experience, and have gained skills that can be utilized by an employer or by yourself to start your own business. We should, after all, be challenging ourselves.

According to the Kingston Business School, older entrepreneurs are more likely to be successful than their younger counterparts. Why? Because the older we get, we become more confident about our own self-worth and are more aware of our strengths and weaknesses. This is a major advantage over a young person fresh out of college who is pursuing their first career.  Working for yourself allows you to become dependent on yourself versus solely relying on others to give you a job.

Even if you aren’t interested in starting your own business, use this time in your life to re-assess your career and identify the areas that you truly enjoyed. Evaluate your life and job experiences and find the direction you want your career to take.

The Colonel Sanders Story has been told so many times. It’s a well known story. Colonel Sanders was 65 years old when he began franchising his infamous chicken. Prior to that, the Colonel was a gas station owner where he fried chicken for weary travelers. This story is often repeated to show that it’s never too late and one is never too old to come up with career changing ideas. However, things were different in the 1930’s. When Colonel Sanders starting serving fried chicken at a Kentucky gas station 80 years ago, he probably didn’t have as many health department hurdles to overcome as that same gas station would today. How do you know what you want to do?

CareerPath.com offers online resources that determines the same answers for free. If someone wants to change careers but is having trouble deciding on a new career path, these online resources can really help. Also, the website will even suggest actual jobs worth applying for.

Always remember that there are ways to transfer the skills you have gained so far into your next career. This is your opportunity to establish your real passions, interests, strengths and goals into your next career. However, do not forget what you have achieved or accomplished so far. None of it is irrelevant. You are simply building and growing from what you have done, even if you are taking a slightly different direction now. There is a connection there;  — you just need to find it.

No one ever stated that we were only allowed one career path. It’s never too late to make a change. Start now. Don’t focus on your age but rather on the skills and experience you are able to offer to others. Empower yourself with this knowledge and pursue your new career path.

Choose a new you! △

“When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.”

~Benjamin Franklin

Creating Your Future

by cjxpadmin | Aug 1, 2012 | August 2012 Magazine, This Issue's FEATURE

Creating Your Future

In creating your future, you need to learn how to choose to be the YOU you want to be!

We are not our actions, because we can change our actions and still be ourselves. For the same reason, we are not our thoughts, our opinions, our beliefs or our feelings. We can change all of those and still be ourselves. We are human beings. We have the power to create ourselves.

As we begin to explore the skill of becoming ourselves, it is very useful to see what being skillful is about. It is about having choices and flexibility. We can adapt, we can change and we can be bigger than we ever thought possible. This is personal skill, the skill to create ourselves, to be the people we want to be, rather than the people we were.

So far, we have seen that our lives have been shaped by the past. We see that it is possible to become aware of ourselves as we act in the present. Now we will see how it is possible to create our own future. For most people, the future is a blank. We expect it to be more of the same or expect it to just happen.

It sure is hard to see into the future. There are so many possibilities and paths to follow. Who knows what’s going to happen to us? Are we as helpless as a little rowboat being tossed about in the ocean? Or are we more like the captains of our own ships, steering ourselves from one major point in life to the next?

Where are you steering yourself?

One thing for sure, if you are reading this article, you care about your future. You care or you have a commitment to make your future better than what you have known in the past. You may not know exactly what you want, but you know you want the future to be better than the past. You will now have a chance to discover the skill you have for creating your future.

Becoming skilled means learning to change the things you can change, accepting the things you cannot change and having the wisdom to know the difference.

You may not choose all the events that occur over the course of a lifetime, but you do choose how to experience those events.

Skills With Which to Build Your Future

Success – There is no better foundation on which to build. Draw confidence from your experiences of success.

Self-Communication – Speak positively and lovingly to yourself. Keep a positive image and faith in yourself in your heart.

Bonding – Create partners, allow yourself to become close to the people who mean the most to you.

Values – Become clear about what matters most to you. Trust in your own values.

Self-Responsibility – You can be a leader to yourself. You need not depend on anyone else for your survival or success.

Meaning – Judgments and evaluations can either hurt you or help you in life. It is wise to know that you give the meaning to what happens for you.

Risk – The risks involved in meeting challenges head on include the possibility of messing up, looking foolish, or suffering a set-back. The rewards for taking positive risks are excitement, accomplishment and fulfillment.
Models – There is a power in learning from people who you respect and admire. We all learn from each other. Choose your models wisely and you will learn well.