The business of personal reinvention

So now you are hitting the big “50.”

Your family and friends have prepared a big surprise party for you. You feel elated. You know you are well-loved, but perhaps deep inside you a question starts to form. In your mind you may be asking, “Where do I go from here now that I am 50 years old?”

I attended such a party for a friend of mine and his friends asked me to share a few thoughts during the occasion. I said, “49 is the oldest age of the young, while 51 is the youngest age of the old.” At 50? Perhaps it is a time to consider whether one would want to leave the ranks of the oldest young or consider opportunities and view life as a new adventure being the youngest of the old.

Personal growth and development take place in a person’s life at all times.

But to me, personal reinvention should be seriously considered at the age of 50 and moving onwards.

The worst thing that can happen is for one to dismiss this idea without careful thought and consideration and say, “Too late for me!” And why is this so? It just might turn out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Personal reinvention is not for young people. Even when one approaches near retirement age, it is a must to prepare for it and to embark on it.

A very crucial question you and I need to ask ourselves would be, “Are we adapting and approaching our next reinvention phase?”

The next question would be, “If not then, when do we start?”

Here are some ideas you might want to consider now that you have hit the “Big 50!”

1. INSTEAD OF TIME, THINK EXPECTANCIES.

Most people live their lives limited to one very narrow perspective that we call “time.” People who constantly reinvent themselves live in a wider and deeper perspective called “Expectancies.”

Understand you do have enough time and the old way of thinking that it’s all downhill by the time you hit 60 is not true at all.

If money is not an issue, then you can still explore new areas. Like getting that PhD, or if you are still earning, you may want to invest in some classes that will add skills to you and have a light schedule that fits your routine. This is better than going home each night, watching films and bumming around feeling miserable.

2. Of course you are overqualified and that is why they need you.

A harsh realization in the new normal is that at this stage of your life, you are a “high overhead” expense to the company, and if you have opted to receive your early retirement package, own the fact you are “over-qualified.”

So what if you need to report to a manager young enough to be your son, you can always reason out and say, “The reason why I want this job is because of the value I bring, and there is a lot I can still contribute to help the organization become better. I would understand the pressure and frustrations they face being a manager myself, but now I can be a better employee, and I am eager to learn about this new area from someone with real expertise in it.”

3. Get into the present game.

“Do you know that until today I refuse to have anything to do with social media?” I still hear some people in their not very young years saying this with a tinge of pride. This is akin to someone in the late ’90s saying, “Do you know I still do not do email and don’t know how to use a computer?”

The question is, why should you be active on it? The very logical argument is: “Because for better or for worse, it is no longer an option you can exercise anymore, and if you don’t know how to use or do it, you will be at the mercy of those who know.”

You need to have a social media presence, especially at this stage of your life. If you are not on LinkedIn these days and your “shadow” resume does not appear on Facebook or Google Search, you practically do not exist at all.

4. Deepen your connection with your past.

By this, I do not mean to wallow in your past accomplishments, but we all know connections make the major difference. They come from your network of contacts. Reach out to them because they make very valuable links to your new opportunities.

5. Surprise yourself and others.

You may have had cultivated some kind of fixed ideas or image of yourself all these years and what you are capable of doing. This happens mostly when you have been working in the same company or industry for years, then one day you dramatically take on an unexpected leadership role and surprise everyone.

You choose to be active with civic organizations. You head an institution. You start to take classes and then you give seminars and share your ideas and experiences to those who want to learn from you. You develop your communication skills. You don’t have any problem with content and are now good with your delivery.

Guess what? You suddenly surprise all of them with that nascent thing that has been kept all these years and you actually surprise yourself with what you can do. Now, isn’t that reinvention?

Keep yourself relevant. Make sure your skills are fresh and you are doing meaningful work. Be a person who is charming, likeable and willing to help and serve, and it all comes back to you.

So what if you’re 50 or 60? You can still move and change. You are not a tree. So stop behaving like one.

(Send your leaders. Bring your key people. Attend and experience two inspiring days with Francis Kong learning leadership and life skills in his widely acclaimed Level Up Leadership March 16-17 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries contact Inspire at 09158055910 or call 632-6310912 or 6310660 for details.)