A midlife career change can be very good for you. It can breathe fresh air into what you may consider a stale life and give you the boost you are looking for.
Many mid lifers feel that a midlife crisis or rather a midlife transition is a turning point in their lives. Often their children have grown up and left home. They want something new to challenge them and unfortunately, these challenges aren't always for the good.
Many mid lifers often think it is too difficult undertake a midlife career change, and try to think of different excuses not to do so. In fact, it is very easy, because you may be more financially stable than you have been before, although that is not always the case. Whatever your situation, you may simply wish to follow your dreams. You have nothing to prove to anyone but yourself, and the amount of connections and contacts you would have built up will make it easier.
No longer is youth seen as the winning argument. Often employers are looking for experience; they want someone who knows the job. Also people with life experience are likely to be more able to learn quickly and adapt the skills they do have to any given situation. You do, however, have to consider your health and what skills you do have. You need to decide why you want to change careers and look at if your age and health will be up to it. A midlife career change might make you feel happier which may even improve your health. People around you will see the differences and will often encourage the career change.
If you have kept up to date with technology then you will be fine and you will be able to bring your wealth of knowledge and experience to any new job. My colleague, Dr. Fred Horowitz, and I did an interview with Ajay Pangarkar, President of CentralKnowledge. He recommends that you "attend webinars (online seminars), take virtual courses from your desk, join blogs (an online diary of an expert), if you are an expert write a blog, mentor or be mentored." When you start your new career, you will know what goals you can set for yourself and how to go about achieving them.
Although the thought of a sudden midlife career change, as you are nearing the end of your career, might be strange to some, others will envy you. Many mid lifers would love to be brave enough to follow their hearts rather than remain safe and stay in a job they will hate in years to come.
If you have a great supporting family and you truly believe that you can change careers, then go for it. You have nothing to lose and you might be very glad you did. If it all goes wrong then you can simply dust yourself off and start again. You will know though that you tried and that's all you can hope for. If you have made the right choice then you will be doing a job that you truly love and not many people can say that.
Dr. Frank Bonkowski writes about midlife career change, goal setting, education, self-discovery, and spirituality to leverage your midlife transition into lifelong happiness at Happiness-After-Midlife.com. Look for his forthcoming e book, entitled Take Charge of Midlife and Beyond: 52 Ideas and Activities for Dealing with Life's Challenges - Aging, Change, Financial Matters, and More!
For help with a midlife career change go to their Web site.
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Frank_Bonkowski/159401
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4863145
Showing posts with label instinct. Show all posts
Showing posts with label instinct. Show all posts
Saturday, 20 June 2020
Saturday, 6 June 2020
Are You an Optimist or a Pessimist?
This is actually a trick question, as few of us are completely optimistic or completely pessimistic. That said, most people do tend to lean more heavily towards one over the other.
It is difficult to get good research data on the percentages, as people who lean towards pessimism do not usually admit they are pessimists. The most recent study I could find was in 2013 and in it, it listed 50% of Americans identifying as being optimists, which seems (rather ironically) fitting considering the standard way many of us evaluate whether someone is an optimist or a pessimist is whether they see the glass as half-full or half-empty
The problem is, that of the remaining 50%, only 4% identified themselves as pessimists. I know this is not very scientific, but I see a lot more Debbie-Downers walking around where I live than 4%. I'm guessing a majority of the 43% who identified as "somewhere in-between" are more heavily pessimistic, as an optimistic person would likely have jumped at the chance to identify themselves as an optimist. Conversely, a pessimistic person would likely be fearful of jumping to that conclusion, but also fearful of labeling themselves a pessimist as well.
You'd be hard pressed to come up with many great historical leaders or inventors who were pessimists (I cannot think of any off the top of my head). But that does not mean we do not need pessimists too. If leaders surround themselves solely with other optimists they are likely to miss the changing currents around them. Some professions lend themselves to pessimism such as CPA's, Safety Engineers and Actuaries just to name a few.
Pessimists tend to think of themselves as realistic and most things in life need a balance of realists and dreamers. I consider myself an optimistic realist. My clients rely on me to "Keep it real," and at the same time help them find inventive ways to better themselves.
It's imperative that I give each client things that help them get from where they are now, to where they want to be in the future. It would be overly optimistic to teach an 11-year old who is still learning their craft, the same things I teach professionals, who are already at the top of theirs.
Although pessimists serve a purpose in society, I cannot think of a good reason anyone would rather be one. I can however, think of several advantages of being an optimist over a pessimist. Optimists tend to be upbeat, have higher goals, and achieve more than pessimists. They are also considerably less likely to give up in the face of challenges or negative forces they experience.
Many people are of the mistaken belief that you are born either an optimist or a pessimist. I have found that each and every one of us have the ability to become an optimist, if we make that choice. It's really no different than someone with poor eyesight. They can choose to live with their bad eyesight or they can get lenses that enable them to see clearly. Pessimists can similarly learn to view things through a corrective lens in their mind and change their entire outlook.
It's rare to run across a peak performer who is not an optimist at heart. I have worked with clients that came to me with a pessimistic bent and the ones who were willing to work to change their outlook were the ones who achieved at higher levels. I believe there is a degree of self-fulfilling prophecy at work in being an optimist as well.
As Norman Cousins eloquently stated, "Optimism doesn't wait on facts. It deals with prospects. Pessimism is a waste of time." The bottom line is, no mater where you fall on the Pessimism/Optimism scale you have the power to change it.
You can follow Sam on Twitter @SuperTaoInc
POSTED IN THE MIND SIDE BLOG
Sam Obitz is a leader in the use and development of mental skills that help you achieve peak performance. Visit The Mind Side Blog at http://supertao.com/category/the-mind-side-blog/
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Sam_Obitz/796527
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10230752
It is difficult to get good research data on the percentages, as people who lean towards pessimism do not usually admit they are pessimists. The most recent study I could find was in 2013 and in it, it listed 50% of Americans identifying as being optimists, which seems (rather ironically) fitting considering the standard way many of us evaluate whether someone is an optimist or a pessimist is whether they see the glass as half-full or half-empty
The problem is, that of the remaining 50%, only 4% identified themselves as pessimists. I know this is not very scientific, but I see a lot more Debbie-Downers walking around where I live than 4%. I'm guessing a majority of the 43% who identified as "somewhere in-between" are more heavily pessimistic, as an optimistic person would likely have jumped at the chance to identify themselves as an optimist. Conversely, a pessimistic person would likely be fearful of jumping to that conclusion, but also fearful of labeling themselves a pessimist as well.
You'd be hard pressed to come up with many great historical leaders or inventors who were pessimists (I cannot think of any off the top of my head). But that does not mean we do not need pessimists too. If leaders surround themselves solely with other optimists they are likely to miss the changing currents around them. Some professions lend themselves to pessimism such as CPA's, Safety Engineers and Actuaries just to name a few.
Pessimists tend to think of themselves as realistic and most things in life need a balance of realists and dreamers. I consider myself an optimistic realist. My clients rely on me to "Keep it real," and at the same time help them find inventive ways to better themselves.
It's imperative that I give each client things that help them get from where they are now, to where they want to be in the future. It would be overly optimistic to teach an 11-year old who is still learning their craft, the same things I teach professionals, who are already at the top of theirs.
Although pessimists serve a purpose in society, I cannot think of a good reason anyone would rather be one. I can however, think of several advantages of being an optimist over a pessimist. Optimists tend to be upbeat, have higher goals, and achieve more than pessimists. They are also considerably less likely to give up in the face of challenges or negative forces they experience.
Many people are of the mistaken belief that you are born either an optimist or a pessimist. I have found that each and every one of us have the ability to become an optimist, if we make that choice. It's really no different than someone with poor eyesight. They can choose to live with their bad eyesight or they can get lenses that enable them to see clearly. Pessimists can similarly learn to view things through a corrective lens in their mind and change their entire outlook.
It's rare to run across a peak performer who is not an optimist at heart. I have worked with clients that came to me with a pessimistic bent and the ones who were willing to work to change their outlook were the ones who achieved at higher levels. I believe there is a degree of self-fulfilling prophecy at work in being an optimist as well.
As Norman Cousins eloquently stated, "Optimism doesn't wait on facts. It deals with prospects. Pessimism is a waste of time." The bottom line is, no mater where you fall on the Pessimism/Optimism scale you have the power to change it.
You can follow Sam on Twitter @SuperTaoInc
POSTED IN THE MIND SIDE BLOG
Sam Obitz is a leader in the use and development of mental skills that help you achieve peak performance. Visit The Mind Side Blog at http://supertao.com/category/the-mind-side-blog/
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Sam_Obitz/796527
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10230752
Tuesday, 2 June 2020
Not Me By Alexa Keating
When we continue to accept behaviors and situations that are not aligned with the path we have chosen for our life, we need to ask why. The mere fact that we do not question it is consenting to allowing other people to control our behavior unconsciously.
Why do we keep doing this? Why do we keep making excuses for bad behavior or for those who do not follow through on promises or commitments? If we are willing to ask the question, 'why' we move forward in leaps and bounds from an illusion that serves no purpose to us. We move into the presence of reality. Instead of being incapacitated by the unknown, we can move forward in our own planned life journey.
Think about the power of intermittent reinforcement in our emotional lives. This is what gets gamblers and addicts hooked. It is what causes very intelligent people to remain in terrible relationships. If it were always bad, you would leave. It is those intermittent 'good times', and wins or highs for the addict, that keep us hooked and returning for more. But you see how the lives of most gamblers and addicts turn out in the end. It is the same with people in our lives who are a part of unhealthy relationships. The results are rarely worth the price of the ride. And, intermittent is as good as it gets; just enough to keep you coming back for more.
How much of this intermittent reward keeps us hooked to our delusions; forces us back to the denial of the real situation? All of this happens because, for a moment, things were better or good.
The good news is that when we wake up in the dream we call our life journey, we realize we chose those poisonous situations to intensify our need to embrace higher values, a higher perception of how we need to see ourselves. Sometimes we create life situations that are guaranteed to make us crash! A head-on crash, so that we have no choice but to wake the hell up and alter our course.
How powerful denial and delusion can be when we are avoiding the big mirror! What is it that we are so afraid to confront in ourselves? What is that dread we wake up with in the morning when it feels like there is something missing? What is that?
It is probably that our good friends and companions, denial and delusion are not yet awake and in control of our emotions. They act as a drug in and of themselves. We become addicted to them and their calming and soothing effects.
It is a lot like being addicted to a computer game. Your screen, or your life view, will reflect dramatic wins that you may even talk about and enjoy; yet, when you turn off the computer, the game vanishes into thin air, a delusion. It was always in the virtual world; it will never show up to accept responsibility for the actions it pervades. These companions are the proverbial 'Not Me's' in your life. You can't find their miserable backsides when it is time to be accountable for your actions. Just like the virtual games, only you can see the wins.
If you are caught up in playing the victim in your game of life, where are you playing that role? At work, as a parent, in an intimate relationship? It an odd fact that those who appear strong and fearless at work may step into the door of their home and immediately assume the role of an abused victim. Publicly they appear as strong and in control people; privately they are emotionally or physically abused if they are caught in this pattern. How does that happen?
Humans instinctively seek to survive and at some level, live out their life dreams. If you are caught in a web of deception and delusion in a relationship, it is not uncommon for you to shine in your work, or vice versa. This is the soul of the dreamer seeking some method to express the joy they originally planned.
We are all born to win; playing a victim is another expression of unhealthy boundaries we have embraced.
It also provides a way to become 'Not Me' when you can excuse the actions you have taken and the choices you have made by blaming someone else for robbing you of your choices. We are our own bandits and thief's in this scenario.
Behold; the head on collision delivering the results of your wrong actions and bad choices. If you are going to survive the ride on your life journey, something has to wake you up so you can navigate the trip successfully.
Imagine that you have chosen a destination and get into your car, buckle the seat belt, start the engine and then proceed to look through the rear view mirror to arrive at your desired destination. You are looking for direction in the mirror that provides the least amount of valuable information, rather than choosing to look through the large expansive windshield that is before you. When you continue the same methods that allowed you to arrive at your current destination, it provides the same effect as navigating through the rear view mirror.
If you have a sense of dread about something it is time to honestly examine where the great sense of power originated that became attached to the thing you dread most. What are you running from? What do you dread and why? How can you disarm this opponent? Can you make a different choice, choose a better path; are you captive because you fear the change? A sense of dread forces you to play the victim's role, a powerless position to assume.
What are you the most disillusioned about in your life? Have you identified the actual issue that is so disillusioning to you? Did you play a part in creating this issue? Are you willing to stop playing that role if you are a part of it?
You cannot win this battle until you are able to be honest with yourself about what it is. Then examine how it became reality; once you have done this, you are in a position to go to battle and win this one in your life.
We all have an addiction to something. If you are in the throes of an unhealthy one, trade it for something that is good for you; good for your path and your life journey. Then stop being a party to continuing the old addiction.
These are simple words that require a deep commitment to change if you want to honestly effect a change. You cannot 'go along to get along' and imagine that things have changed.
Alexa Keating is a healing and transformative writer with 32 published books and 500 + articles available on Ezine articles.
The most important writing goal for me is that my words be healing, transformative, informative and humorous whenever possible; laughter lifts the soul! For more information please join me on my web site at http://www.arkconnect.com. I appreciate every person who takes the time to peruse, read and share my work with me.
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Alexa_Keating/1883665
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10288639
Why do we keep doing this? Why do we keep making excuses for bad behavior or for those who do not follow through on promises or commitments? If we are willing to ask the question, 'why' we move forward in leaps and bounds from an illusion that serves no purpose to us. We move into the presence of reality. Instead of being incapacitated by the unknown, we can move forward in our own planned life journey.
Think about the power of intermittent reinforcement in our emotional lives. This is what gets gamblers and addicts hooked. It is what causes very intelligent people to remain in terrible relationships. If it were always bad, you would leave. It is those intermittent 'good times', and wins or highs for the addict, that keep us hooked and returning for more. But you see how the lives of most gamblers and addicts turn out in the end. It is the same with people in our lives who are a part of unhealthy relationships. The results are rarely worth the price of the ride. And, intermittent is as good as it gets; just enough to keep you coming back for more.
How much of this intermittent reward keeps us hooked to our delusions; forces us back to the denial of the real situation? All of this happens because, for a moment, things were better or good.
The good news is that when we wake up in the dream we call our life journey, we realize we chose those poisonous situations to intensify our need to embrace higher values, a higher perception of how we need to see ourselves. Sometimes we create life situations that are guaranteed to make us crash! A head-on crash, so that we have no choice but to wake the hell up and alter our course.
How powerful denial and delusion can be when we are avoiding the big mirror! What is it that we are so afraid to confront in ourselves? What is that dread we wake up with in the morning when it feels like there is something missing? What is that?
It is probably that our good friends and companions, denial and delusion are not yet awake and in control of our emotions. They act as a drug in and of themselves. We become addicted to them and their calming and soothing effects.
It is a lot like being addicted to a computer game. Your screen, or your life view, will reflect dramatic wins that you may even talk about and enjoy; yet, when you turn off the computer, the game vanishes into thin air, a delusion. It was always in the virtual world; it will never show up to accept responsibility for the actions it pervades. These companions are the proverbial 'Not Me's' in your life. You can't find their miserable backsides when it is time to be accountable for your actions. Just like the virtual games, only you can see the wins.
If you are caught up in playing the victim in your game of life, where are you playing that role? At work, as a parent, in an intimate relationship? It an odd fact that those who appear strong and fearless at work may step into the door of their home and immediately assume the role of an abused victim. Publicly they appear as strong and in control people; privately they are emotionally or physically abused if they are caught in this pattern. How does that happen?
Humans instinctively seek to survive and at some level, live out their life dreams. If you are caught in a web of deception and delusion in a relationship, it is not uncommon for you to shine in your work, or vice versa. This is the soul of the dreamer seeking some method to express the joy they originally planned.
We are all born to win; playing a victim is another expression of unhealthy boundaries we have embraced.
It also provides a way to become 'Not Me' when you can excuse the actions you have taken and the choices you have made by blaming someone else for robbing you of your choices. We are our own bandits and thief's in this scenario.
Behold; the head on collision delivering the results of your wrong actions and bad choices. If you are going to survive the ride on your life journey, something has to wake you up so you can navigate the trip successfully.
Imagine that you have chosen a destination and get into your car, buckle the seat belt, start the engine and then proceed to look through the rear view mirror to arrive at your desired destination. You are looking for direction in the mirror that provides the least amount of valuable information, rather than choosing to look through the large expansive windshield that is before you. When you continue the same methods that allowed you to arrive at your current destination, it provides the same effect as navigating through the rear view mirror.
If you have a sense of dread about something it is time to honestly examine where the great sense of power originated that became attached to the thing you dread most. What are you running from? What do you dread and why? How can you disarm this opponent? Can you make a different choice, choose a better path; are you captive because you fear the change? A sense of dread forces you to play the victim's role, a powerless position to assume.
What are you the most disillusioned about in your life? Have you identified the actual issue that is so disillusioning to you? Did you play a part in creating this issue? Are you willing to stop playing that role if you are a part of it?
You cannot win this battle until you are able to be honest with yourself about what it is. Then examine how it became reality; once you have done this, you are in a position to go to battle and win this one in your life.
We all have an addiction to something. If you are in the throes of an unhealthy one, trade it for something that is good for you; good for your path and your life journey. Then stop being a party to continuing the old addiction.
These are simple words that require a deep commitment to change if you want to honestly effect a change. You cannot 'go along to get along' and imagine that things have changed.
Alexa Keating is a healing and transformative writer with 32 published books and 500 + articles available on Ezine articles.
The most important writing goal for me is that my words be healing, transformative, informative and humorous whenever possible; laughter lifts the soul! For more information please join me on my web site at http://www.arkconnect.com. I appreciate every person who takes the time to peruse, read and share my work with me.
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Alexa_Keating/1883665
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10288639
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