Archive for the ‘Midlife’ Category

Money & Soul – the journey begins

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

I’m about to launch a personal project that I expect may be of interest to quite a few out there: I’m planning to tackle my money issues – in public!

I have decided to use my life as a living laboratory. I want to credit Molly Gordon (author of The Accidental Entrepreneur) for expressing this concept in a recent interview with Isabel Parlett (the “Soundbite Shaman”). Molly said she decided to be transparent about areas of her life where she might have felt shame or defensiveness, and that made for rich learning and teaching for herself and her clients and followers. I felt relief when I heard her say this, of not having to pretend to “have it all together.” The idea of someone in public modellng being honest, vulnerable, and human seemed both courageous and healing.

So in the interests of Science, in the spirit of curiosity and experimentation, and with whatever degree of transparency I am able to muster, I am embarking on an exploration of this biggest bugaboo of my life. . . . (more…)

Do you have to sell your car?

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

help3d_white_noreflectionI’m very excited to let everyone know that my good friend, L.James Johnson, has just published an e-book, “HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW!: New Rules for Selling Your Vehicle Online.”

This subject may seem far from the themes of this blog. But there are three reasons why I’m letting you know about it.

1) I am mentioned in the acknowledgements as his marketing consultant! Having steeped myself in Internet marketing for a couple of years, I was able to help him get his legs in that world (and now he teaches me things, especially about technology).

2) James is a bona fide late bloomer. He wrote this book when he was 57, after a circuitous and interesting career path.

3) Some of you may be in the position of having to sell your own car!

If you check out his website, BayAreaCarGuy.com, you will find lots of resources, including some wonderful personalized services for those overwhelmed or intimidated by the prospect of car-buying or car-selling.

By the way, James is just about the sweetest man I know – he’s an automotive genius with an amazing heart and spirit. If anyone can transform the stereotype of used car salesman, it’s James. (I dubbed him The Expert Who Gives Used Car Salesmen a Good Name.)

And I’ve never even owned a car! (I belong to that rare breed: native New Yorkers who don’t drive!)

Finding One’s True Work After Fifty

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Swan Flying med

On Being a Late Bloomer

I’m a late bloomer. It sometimes seems I’ve lived my life backwards. I like to say I took an early retirement (minimal employment and lots of leisure), and now that I’m of retirement age, I’m fired up and cracking to start working.

I mean really working, working at my true work, the work I was meant to do.

What took me so long? Well, for one thing, any original work that blends multiple gifts, life experience, and acquired wisdom, must take time to ripen. It’s not available to young sprouts or saplings, but only comes to fruit on a mature tree.

In addition, there are no role models or career counselors to point us in the direction of our unique work. So I had to wait to evolve and develop before I was ready to discover it for myself.   (more…)