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Test-Drive Your Dream Job

Journalist Larry Portzline, my co-author for DEFYING GRAVITY, TOO, is my guest blogger this week.  Note that Mark Peffers is one of the men we interviewed for the book.  

Imagine having the opportunity to "test-drive" your dream job for a couple of days.

Maybe you want to become a brewmaster like Mark Peffers, or learn how to run a B&B, or find out what it's like to be a sports announcer.  Or maybe you've always wanted to be a horse trainer, a music producer or a detective.

 
VocationVacations® can help you to explore these possibilities and many more.

Founded in 2004 by entrepreneur and author Brian Kurth, the agency offers more than 150 hands-on "career immersion experiences" with expert mentors around the U.S.  "It's ideal for anyone who's considering a career change," Kurth explains.  "You get to work one-on-one with a professional, see what they do up-close and ask a million questions."

Some of the most popular one- to three-day VocationVacations® cover the culinary, sports, design, animal, entertainment and hospitality fields.  "People are trying to figure out what they really want to do," Kurth notes.  "They want to find their true calling and pursue their passions, especially if they feel stuck in their current careers."

 
Past vacationers have included attorneys, insurance executives, teachers and clerical workers, for example.  "They come from all walks of life," Kurth says.  "It's a risk-free way for them to explore the 'road not taken' or audition a new career without quitting their day-jobs."

 
A former director of business development for a dot-com startup and a co-executive producer for the program "This Job's A Trip" on the Travel Channel, Kurth has pitched VocationVacations on CNN, MSNBC and "The Today Show."  He also authored the book Test-Drive Your Dream Job: A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding and Creating the Work You Love (2008, Hachette Group).

 
"I always say, you test-drive a car before you buy it, whether it's a used Honda or a brand new Maserati," he explains.  "Well, it's the same thing with a career.  You should give yourself the opportunity to test-drive your dream job.  And see how it feels."

 
Visit www.vocationvacations.com for more information.

Intrigued?  Take a few minutes to view the above video.

Barbara Traynor

Barbara Traynor, author of Second Career Volunteer:  A Passionate & Pennywise Approach to Retirement, spends six months of every year volunteering at an organization of her choice in exchange for room and board.  

One year she worked at a small college in Alaska.  (See photo, above, of Barbara kayaking with some new friends in her free time.)  Another year she worked at a wildlife refuge in Florida.  This year she’ll be volunteering at Russell Cave National Monument in Alabama. 

Not bad for a woman in her 70s who depends on Social Security for her entire income and never thought she’d be able to retire, let alone travel all around the United States.

 This week I interviewed Barbara on “Ageless” and hosted her for the night at my place.  After she went to bed, I read her entire book from cover to cover.  It’s filled with inspiring stories of other volunteer careerists and a wealth of resources for anyone interested in exploring this lifestyle.  

Although the book is geared to retirees living on a fixed income, the financial crisis has made its content relevant to a much broader swath of people—recent college grads who can’t land a job, midcareer professionals who’ve been laid off, even affluent retirees who’ve grown weary of playing golf and want to give back.  

As Barbara herself says, “My volunteer lifestyle enables me to live within my limited…income without effort, travel to places only dreamed of, and network with an incredible group of people.  It does not get better than that!"

No Time Like the Present

Reading about Steve Jobs’ death tonight at the age of 56, I feel a renewed sense of urgency to seize the moment.  I’ve already lived a year more than he did.  With that in mind, today I’ve chosen to re-run a post I published on February 10, 2008.  When I wrote this, my friend Laurie’s husband Jim had just died of a brain tumor.

A memorial celebration was held yesterday for Jim McKennan, the husband of my friend Laurie Gordon. He was only 54 years old and the father of four school-age children. Over 700 people came to the service.

I was fortunate to be able to spend some time with Jim the last few weeks before he died. On each occasion, I left with the conviction that our connections with others nourish and sustain us as much as our dreams.

Throughout his life, Jim’s priority was his loved ones. He was enormously successful in business, the creative genius behind the Wendy’s campaign that featured founder Dave Thomas. But he almost never left his house before nine in the morning and tried to be home by six each night. He didn’t want to miss seeing his children off to school and hearing about their day when they returned.

Finding Purpose: The Five P's

This blog entry was originally posted on March 19, 2007.  I had just returned from Botswana when I wrote it.  I recently chatted with Bonnie Orton, the then 70-year old Peace Corps volunteer who hosted me while I was there.  She called me from JFK on her way home to Chicago from another trip to Africa.  One of these days we plan to go back together. 

We are born to dream.

Think about it. Where would we be, who would we be, without our dreams? Most of the great inventions of the world, much of the forward movement of human civilization, has been fueled by dreams. So it should come as no surprise that for many of us, finding purpose means putting our dreams into action.

For the past seven years I’ve been interviewing people who later in life did just that, and in writing a book about the experience, I realized a dream of my own. Analyzing what I've learned in the process and how it might apply to people of all ages, I've come up with what I call "The Five P’s of Finding Purpose."

Walking Through Fear

I'm in the middle of a whirlwind of guests, speeches and travel, and too busy to keep up with my regular, weekly blogging.  Until my life calms down again, I'm going to be reprising some of my favorite posts from the past.  This one is from October 21, 2006.  In hindsight, I'm happy to report that I wasn't crazy to try my hand at fiction.  Even if my novel still isn't ready for prime time, I wrote my way to the end and had an incredible time immersing myself in the creative process.  And, yes, every day I still practice walking through fear.  

We’re all afraid.

If we’re not anxious about getting senile or going broke, we’re worried that our children will start using drugs or that we’ll end up as one-hit wonders.

It doesn’t matter how accomplished, brilliant and beautiful we are. Fear comes with the territory of being human. And the better we are at navigating through it, the more comfortable we feel in our skins and surroundings.

Facing fear also goes hand-in-hand with realizing our dreams. That’s why for the past six years, beginning the morning I got the inspiration to write my first book, I’ve been trying to do one bold thing a day. Anything that scares me, that makes my stomach go up and down or causes my breath to catch in my throat, qualifies. Cold calling a radio producer, speaking before a large audience, saying no to an unwelcome invitation—I count them all. I’ve even given myself credit for trying gorgonzola cheese. (The smell alone frightens me!)

Today's guest post is by Tamara Elizabeth, author of the self-help book Fabulously Fifty:

Moving Forward Through a Midlife Transition 

In the first 50 years of my fabulous life, I wore many hats in different styles, sizes and colors.  All were neatly stored in the hatbox called motherhood.  I have raised a total of seven children and have loved every moment.  I wouldn’t trade any of them for a paid career.  But at the midpoint of my journey, with all my children grown and gone, I found myself asking one simple question: “What do I want to do when I grow up?”

Most of us have made the mistake of attaching our worth to others at some point in our lives, and I am no different.  Now I felt stuck in my journey - one of my dainty size 7 stilettos firmly planted in the past and the other cemented right in front of me.  How could I move forward?

As I "shopped for one" in the fruit section, I reflected on my worries.  Suddenly, I imagined myself as an orange, that amazing miracle of Mother Nature which grows on a tree with a face full of sunshine.  I decided right then and there that my life was no longer just a pile of orange pieces--some full of pits that choked my desires and goals; others as dry as cardboard because I hadn't drunk enough from the abundance this wonderful universe had provided me.

Bearing Witness

Here's a post I wrote on 9/11/08. I can't believe ten years have passed:

On a crystal clear morning eight years ago today, my husband and I were sitting in our car at a beach in Greens Farms, Connecticut, watching the Twin Towers burn. We couldn’t see the flames, but from across Long Island Sound we could see plumes of smoke blackening the sky. Minutes earlier on television we'd watched in horror as the towers came down, the debris cascading through the canyons of lower Manhattan.

At one time my husband had an office at the World Trade Center, but I only knew one person who was there that day—a friend who was working at her desk on the 83rd floor when the second plane hit. She made it out. I didn't know a single soul who died.

Even so, I cried every day for months. The New York Times ran a regular feature titled "Portraits of Grief" to commemorate the victims of the attack. Perhaps I would have been less emotional had I not been a regular reader of the section. In all, 140 reporters spent more than a year writing brief portraits of more than 2,400 of that day’s roughly 2,800 victims, bearing witness to their lives.

The stories are heartstopping. Each one beckons us, the living, to be braver with our dreams.

Successful Aging

It's pretty hard to defy gravity if your body and mind are going down hill, so here's a quick overview of what I've learned over the past decade about successful aging:

• In 10 years, 1 out of 5 people will be over 65. 
• The stereotype of old people as hard of hearing and stooped over with a cane is just that—a stereotype.
• Being old is not the same as being sick.  
• What is normal in old age is much more variable than what is normal at, say, 30.
• At any age, it’s normal to have some trouble with memory.  It's all a matter of degree.
• Successful aging is not largely dependant on genes.  Our habits are more important than our DNA.
• The most important thing we can do to help our memory, cognition, mood and sleep is to exercise at least a 1/2 hour every day.  Vacuuming, gardening, walking—all count as exercise.

Keeping Alzheimer's at Bay

Today’s post was written and sent to me by Allison Gamble:

Keeping Alzheimer’s at Bay

As we get older, many of us ask ourselves:  Will my hearing diminish?  Will I need bifocals?  Will my hips and knees hold out?  And scariest of all:  Will my mind stay sharp?

Interestingly, the authors of a recent study published by the American Academy of Neurology discovered that symptoms of Alzheimer’s are less noticeable in people over 80 than in the 60-75 age range.  At any age, however, the fact remains that Alzheimer’s is a devastating disease that can quickly short circuit our dreams.

The good news is that we can take preventative steps now to reduce our chances of losing cognitive function later. Though there’s no definitive lifestyle that can prevent Alzheimer’s, numerous studies have demonstrated that getting regular exercise, plenty of omega-3 fatty acids and lots of mental stimulation can help keep the disease at bay.

RSVP, Please

Today's post is by Betty Ruth, President of the National Association of Retired Senior Volunteer Program Directors (NARSVPD):

In the two weeks after floods ravaged the Midwest this past June, Larry Lyngstad (above photo, left) of Pierre, South Dakota, and his fellow volunteers with the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) donated 1600 hours sand bagging and providing other emergency services to neighbors in need.  Lyngstad was quoted in the Pierre Capital Journal as saying, “These kinds of programs are important, not only for the people being served by the volunteers, but also those that provide the services. It is a win-win situation.”

Mary Brewster and American Flora

Sixteen years ago, at the age of 40, Mary Brewster took up ballet.  She’d taken lessons as a child, but it had been 28 years since she’d regularly done any rond de jambes or pliés. 

Soon, in addition to keeping up with her own lessons, she began teaching ballet and pointe to other adults at Pirouette, Pilates and More in Wilton, CT.  All the while, she kept wishing she could find leotards and other activewear that emphasized women’s “femininity, athleticism and beauty.” 

Unable to locate a manufacturer that satisfied all of her needs, Mary eventually decided to create her own company to fill the void.  A few months ago, her goal was finally realized when she launched American Flora.

61-Year Old Swimmer Holds Head Up High

Yesterday, in a stretch of sea half-way between Cuba and Key West, 61-year old marathon swimmer Diana Nyad abandoned a dream.  

Ms. Nyad's quest was to complete the 60-hour, 103-mile journey without a shark cage.  For two years she had been in training, swimming 12 hours every other day and lifting weights in between.  Years before, at the age of 29, she had set a record for the longest ocean swim:  102.5 miles from Bimini to Jupiter, FL.  Now she was determined to set another.  She wanted to show people that life isn’t over at 60.  “People  my age must try to live vital, energetic lives,” she told Don Van Natta of the NYT.  "We're still young.  We're not our mothers' generation at 60."

Leading Questions

Where is your work coming from?  Why are you doing it?  What is it you see?  These are questions pioneering photographer Jerome Leibling, who died last week at the age of 87, continually asked his students, one of whom was documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. 

In a 2006 NYT interview, Burns said about Leibling:  “You wanted to be like him. You wanted to tell the truth. You’d go out to take pictures with him, and we all saw the same things he did, and then we’d come back, and he’d put up his prints, and you’d put up yours, and you were devastated.”

What does all this have to do with defying gravity?  More than you might think.  To overcome the weight of societal expectations of age and gender, to overcome the weight of family history, to overcome the weight of our ideas of ourselves—in other words, to be truly authentic—these are precisely the questions one needs to ask.

Use It Or Lose It

Show me a group of healthy and vibrant “super seniors,” and I’ll show you a group of people who regularly  exercise.  Like Art White, the ninety-nine year old I recently interviewed for my TV show, these individuals might not use the “e” word to describe what they do to keep moving, but move they do.  Yoga master Tao Porchon-Lynch (see below) is a perfect example of this and an inspiration to anyone who needs a little push to get off the couch.

The Force of Habit

Even though personality stabilizes by 20 and is virtually solidified by 50, this doesn't mean that all opportunity for growth stops in midlife. No matter what your age, it's still possible to change some of those habits that are holding you back from fulfilling your dreams.

In a new book titled Making Sense of People:  Decoding the Mysteries of Personality, leading neuroscientist Samuel Barondes cites the example of Benjamin Franklin. 

From his early twenties until he died at 85, Franklin worked to "guard...against the unremitting attraction of ancient habits and the force of perpetual temptations."

Every Blade of Grass Has Its Angel

Wini Yunker, who joined the Peace Corps at 65 and inspired me to write Defying Gravity, once told me that she couldn’t have done what she did on her own.  When I was making plans to fly to Kentucky to interview her, she even insisted that I stay an extra day to meet some of the wonderful people who had helped her on her journey.

More people have helped me than I can count.  Every person who has taken the time and trouble to tell me that they loved my book or has bothered to comment on this blog has spurred me on to keep writing.  But first among my champions is my husband Michael.  On August 8th, we'll have been married for thirty years. There’s a saying from the Talmud: “Every blade of grass has its Angel that bends over it and whispers, ‘Grow, grow."  Michael is that person for me.

Art White: Part 3

I've been busy this week creating a new website for the TV show I do (www.ageless-tv.com) and uploading clips to it.  Here's one of me interviewing Art White, the 99-year old I've been blogging about the past two weeks.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is priceless.  Today I'm meeting with an equally active 99-year old woman.  Stay tuned!

Art White, 99

Art White changed my life last week.  How?  By replacing my mom as my primary role model for aging.

As loyal readers of this blog know, my mom is now 88.  She still lives alone, still walks every day, still reads voraciously (she just finished Ann Patchett’s newest book State of Wonder), still laughs at the slightest provocation and still has a killer wink that melts me every time I see it.  She sounds amazing, right?

But that’s only part of the picture.  Besides fighting breast cancer and a brain tumor, she’s also increasingly frail and unsure on her feet.  Everywhere we go, I hold her hand to keep her from toppling over.  Oh, and did I mention that she’s almost totally deaf?  I see her practically every day and invariably think to myself, “Is this what I’m going to be like in 30 years?"

So when I interviewed Art White last Monday for my TV show, he gave me needed hope.  Yes, I might end up being as deaf and frail as my mom, but it's also possible that I could remain as active as Art.

Here's a sampling of Art's responses, some given on-air, some in the Green Room before the show.

Questions for a 99-Year Old

This past Monday I had a remarkable guest on my TV show.  His name is Art White, and he's turning 99 this coming Friday.  Somehow Art has managed to outlive the vast majority of his peers and stay astonishingly active.  Since retiring at age 95 from his third career, he still bowls twice a week, does Tai Chi once a week, plays bridge four times a week, eats anything he wants and takes no pills--not even vitamins.  He's aiming to be 110.

To prepare for the interview, I went on Facebook and asked my "friends" to post questions for Art.  I heard from people all over the U.S.  I even got a reply from a woman in London, England.  Most of the respondents are middle-aged, but one is in her twenties and two are in their seventies.

Next week I'll relay some of Art's answers, but first I thought it would be interesting to pass along the questions and give you a chance to answer them yourself.  If you keep a journal, you might consider addressing one a day.  Why wait until you're 99?