Peak Careers

Professional Development for Career Practitioners

working with boomers

Repacking Your Bags: Lighten Your Load For The Good Life. Richard Leider and David Shapiro

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repacking your bags

I had seen Richard Leider speak at NCDA in 2014 and was inspired by his message of passion and “unpacking your bags” to find what really matters. In Repacking Your Bags he walks you through the process. There are so many great quotes I found myself highlighting in my e-book often.

“The ideal job isn’t a standard of living it’s a state of mind and a state of being. In the ideal job, you’re applying the talents you enjoy most to an interest you’re passionate about, in an environment that fits who you are and what you value“.

The authors speak to the fact that most of us just keep collecting things physically and emotionally and we seldom get rid of them as they lose their usefulness. They offer a number of activities you can do and offer many suggestions on how to begin this process of repacking your bags. Yes, bags. There are your place, relationship, and work bags. And then they walk us through finding ‘purpose’ in our lives.

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Boomers to Save the Economy…again.

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Why not? Boomers have driven the economy since we were born. Our love of toys in the 50’s & 60’s created many new companies. You are welcome Hasbro, Fisher-Price, Legos, and Mattel.

With 10,000 Boomers nationwide turning 65 daily across the country, we are facing a labor shortage crisis everywhere. Here in Maine, nearly a third of the population is in the Boomer age range. Some states are worse than others, but nationally 47% of the labor force is 55+ during the decade 2006-2016. The growth in the labor force for ages 16-54 is less than 1%!  YIKES! Houston, we have a problem.

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A career expert, David DeLong calls them “piling up at the door”.

Here in Maine, the total labor force is 700,000 and with 411,000 people aged 45-64, they will be leaving the workforce in the next 2 decades. Match this with 302,000 residents under the age of 20 years old, this could be a gap of 109,000! And Maine is typical of states across the U.S.

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Life Reimagined. By Richard Leider & Alan Webber

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After listening to Richard Leider at the National Career Development Association conference June 2014, I knew I had to buy this book.  This is a common sense straightforward book that speaks to Boomers as they transition into this next phase of life.  It is optimistic, informative, and practical.  My kind of book.

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One theme really resonates with my philosophy on “intentional serendipity” and “happenstance theory” and that is their, “you must live life with choice, curiosity, and courage” followed up with a healthy dose of taking action.  Being curious and being willing to do things outside your comfort zone (by taking action) will often lead to wonderful opportunities.

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The Encore Career Handbook. By Marci Alboher

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The Encore Career Handbook.  How To Make A Living And A Difference In The Second Half Of Life. Marci Alboher

I stumbled onto this book one day at Barnes & Nobles when I was trying to burn up my Christmas gift certificate and it was a wonderful discovery.  Not only am I a “boomer” but I provide career counseling / coaching for Boomers and found this book to be “chock-a-block” full of information, resources, activities, and great ideas for anyone who is over 50 and thinking about leaving their full time job for something new.

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Marci starts with reinventing yourself, explores options, take some self assessments, consider financial issues, network to create more options, “do things” to create your own luck, and even explores being your own boss and creating a business.

The handbook ends with an encore hot list of jobs, sample resumes & bios, a budget worksheet, a business plan builder, and further reading.

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The Third Chapter by Sara Lawrence -Lightfoot

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The Third Chapter by Sara Lawrence -Lightfoot is a great book on understanding this Third Chapter of life and how we as career practitioners can help people successfully navigate aging.  She states this navigation requires curiosity, adaptability, engagement in new perspectives, skills, experiences, and vulnerability & uncertainty.  Yes, it complicated but millions of Boomers are facing this time in their life that will require assistance.

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She speaks to the developmental stage perspective using Bridges Transition work, Eriksons’ view of life span, and gerontologists Neugarten & Hagestad who say “people no longer move from adulthood to old age, but instead go through a relatively long interval when physical vigor remains high, family responsibilities are low, and commitment to work continues but changes.”

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