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Reinventing Retirement Newsletter
Table of Contents
1. New Tag
line
We asked. You responded.
Thanks to the creative people who submitted over 100 possible new tag
lines for 2young2retire. We learned a lot about how we are
perceived by you, and what – if anything – we might do
differently in the future. We ultimately came up with Time
to Live on Purpose as the best expression of how we see ourselves
evolving. A number of your entries came close or broke new
ground for us. So, honorable mention (and a copy of Too Young to
Retire: 101 Ways to Start the Rest of Your Life) to these people.
Send an email with your snail mail address to claim your prize:
marika@2young2retire.com
Where is the joy?
Not long ago, we were
working with a business coach on updating 2young2retire.com, the
design and layout, but more importantly, our message. After we
described our audience for him and our approach thus far, he posed
this question: “Where is the pain?” So we thought about it and
we experimented with the copy. After all, we reasoned, this is an
approach that seems to work in our problem/solution world. How else
would we sell a lot of stuff: cosmetics, financial advice, government
policy, newspapers (if it bleeds, it leads), pharmaceuticals,
weight-loss products, even (forgive us) self-help books, if not to
fix something? Hey, attitude is in. Cynicism is chic. Kvetching is
almost convivial. How would we get through the evening without a dose
of Comedy Central?
But lately, we've begun to
wonder if focusing on the pain/problem/what's wrong is really good
for us, and whether it is just a habit we may not be as stuck with as
it seems. Fact is, there
is growing interest these days in what is right, rather than
in what is wrong. Appreciative Inquiry, an
organizational process that grew from a paper published by David
Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva at Case Western Reserve University
in 19871 , is making a
positive impact in the workplace. Turns out that the qualities that
make people happy – optimism, gratitude, generosity – also make
us more successful at whatever we do. (Positive thinking guru, Norman
Vincent Peale knew that, and so did Dale Carnegie.) Happy people
make better, more productive employees and employers. And it is
becoming evident that the principles of AI are equally effective in
our more intimate relationships, with spouse or partner, children,
even pets. We should not be surprised that all creatures respond
better to appreciation than criticism.
Transitions are
challenging at every age, but perhaps no more so than when we are
leaving the safe harbor of work we've done for decades, and heading
who knows where. We experience confusion, self-doubt, perhaps even a
sense of loss and pain. Most psychologists agree that we need to
mourn, to vent, to get it out of our systems. Then, it's time to
move on. Time to ask new, better questions that could open up whole
new worlds of possibility: What lights me up? What makes me happy?
Where is
the joy?
If the notion of
discovering your happiness quotient leaves you cold, here's a handy
tool
invented by the father of positive psychology, Dr. Martin Seligman.
The Authentic Happiness Inventory Questionnaire is available at no
charge. Just register to use it.
http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/register.aspx).
You may be pleasantly surprised at what you discover about yourself.
1 Appreciative
Inquiry into Organizational Life,
http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/intro/vision.cfm
The
Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry, Sue Annis Hammond, Thin
Book Publishing Company,
1998.
See also, the
Good News Network International, celebrating its 10th
anniversary, subscribe here: http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/.
BOOK SITE
New books of note, include
the following:
Ultralongevity: the
Seven-Step Program for a Younger, Healthier You (Little
Brown 2007) by Mark Liponis, M.D., medical
director of the Canyon Ranch Health Resorts, is Canyon Ranch for the
rest of us. We were particularly interested in this book because we
visited the beautiful Canyon Ranch in Tucson in 2006, pitching a 2y2r
workshop. If $2,810/person for a four-day, all inclusive stay is not
in your budget right now, you can still get advice about healthier
living that this world-renowned spa is famous for, plus some
delicious recipes.
OK,
you reinventors out there, Thinking About Tomorrow:
Reinventing Yourself at Midlife (Warner
Wellness, 2007), by Susan Crandell, is another one for your
reading list or book club. This lively, well-written book by a former staffer on
MORE magazine has some smart tips and profiles that are fun to read.
One of her best suggestions: unplug the TV for a month and discover
what you can do with all that time. Read an excerpt here:
http://www.susancrandell.com/Excerpt.html
Tomorrow, September 22,
is One Web Day. A day every year when we celebrate the Web and what
it means to us. Modeled after Earth Day, it is the brainchild of
Susan
Crawford, legal scholar and professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo
School of Law. Why are we celebrating? That's easy. Without the
Web, 2young2retire wouldn't exist! Here's another reason: the Web
(aka Internet) helped Howard research the kind of hip he wanted and
led him to the best surgeon around. He liked it so much, he did it
twice! For more
information on how you can participate:
http://www.onewebday.org/?page_id=2
For Susan Crawford's blog:
http://scrawford.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2005/9/22/1249929.html
Congratulations to
Purpose Prize Fellow, Rick Koca (2young2retire's 2006 nominee) for
his segment on the PBS NEWSHOUR special, September 18.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/social_issues/july-dec07/kids_09-18.html
Retire Later, Retire
Happier, advises Marc Freedman, ceo and founder of Civic Ventures in
an interview with Money Magazine's Donna Rosato.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/04/pf/freedman.moneymag/index.htm
Mama Mia! There they go
again, Abba, that is. Even if you're not a fan, this short program
forwarded to us by our woman in Barcelona, 2y2r Certified
Facilitator, Jean Gilhead, is worth your time.
http://www.greatdanepro.com/Chiquitita/index.htm
Hey, who are you calling
“senior!” SeniorJobBank.com is now Workforce50.com.
http://www.workforce50.com/content/Press_Release_09-07-07_Workforce50.cfm
Says publisher, Gene Burnard, "These days, few
people in their 50s, 60s or even 70s relate to the label 'senior'.
We heard from them loud and clear that our former name cast them as
stereotypical old folks ready to retire mentally and physically.
Wow, is that far from reality!"
Boomer
Job Fair. Yes, employers trolling for experienced workers 50+.
About time, and we'lre betting this is just the tip of the iceberg.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/0920jobfair0920.html
There
are all kinds of reasons we are hooked on genealogy these days:
plumbing medical mysteries, investigating possible links to family
fortunes, or just curiosity about who to
thank for that schnoz, to name a few. Genealogy mavens probably
know this, but if you're just getting started on your own family
tree, the Mormon Church has one of the best databases of family
records and there is no charge for the service.
http://www.ancestorhunt.com/mormon_church_records.htm
Search the web with Good
Search and support your favorite charity. http://www.goodsearch.com/
Or adopt two of our favorites as yours: http://www.heifer.org
and http://www.seva.org
Stay well, make it new,
make it better.
Marika and Howard Stone To subscribe to this list, or cancel a subscription, please visit our website at
http://www.2young2retire.com/ or use the subscribe link below. Subscriptions: Subscribe | Cancel | Update Home | How They Do It
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