Category: Book Excerpt
Pep talk set to music
Imagine-Create-Invent-Innovate
Haven’t explored the power of play lately. Here is today’s venture.
What is something new you might create today?
Book Recommendation: Creative Confidence
I’ve listened to and read this book since 2015 when I took on a technology learning plan for a school district. Clearly, I didn’t take the advice below as wholeheartedly as I should have.
But this book’s many insights and real-life examples should provide the requisite *kick in the seat of the pants* [the title of another favorite book by Roger von Oech] for those of us in that ‘desire to act vs. moving forward’ fog.
Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All
by David Kelley and Tom Kelley
“Many of us get stuck between wanting to act and taking action. The uncertainty of the uncharted path ahead can be daunting. Sometimes it feels as if circumstances are conspiring against us, and we find ourselves riveted in place. In corporate cultures, that hesitation can translate into what professors Bob Sutton and Jeffrey Pfeffer call the “knowing-doing gap”
Kick in the Seat of the Pants by Roger von Oech
Book Recommendation: Creative Pep Talk
by Andy J. Miller
Subtitled: Inspiration from 50 Artists
Colorful, inspirational, and thought-provoking.
Here is the Goodreads review page.
Some favorites:
You’ll never be ready, so you might as well put yourself out there.
–Daniel Fishel
You cannot live your whole life in comfort zones
–Meg Hunt
Roll with it & gain momentum.
— Mary Kate McDevitt
My Retirement Book: Self-doubt crept in.
***
I was probably a little more forgiving to myself during that first year of retirement, but extra discretionary time often leads to more introspection, or an equivalent of what this Huffington Post piece refers to as ‘sensemaking’.
This article highlights research by the University of Cincinnati’s Heather Vough and colleagues who identified a list of the six most common career-ending narratives, including the three most challenging to a retiree’s self-worth:
- Being discarded
- Becoming disillusioned
- Having an epiphany
I experienced a mix of these three and so my first year, while at times leisurely, was more marked by a juggling act of highs and lows and doubts and revelations.
My challenge, and I would guess that of plenty of other retirees, was to write a new script.
More on that in a later post.
Take the time to read the HuffPost piece. I’m betting there will be a realization or two out there if you identify your retirement narrative according to the article’s list.
Photo-a-day 6: It ain’t ‘House Beautiful’ but…
In our retirement years, do we really need the unending crawl of miscellaneous minutiae? [In any years, actually.]
Slap a piece of inexpertly shaped cardboard again the TV.
Prop it up with a book or two.
And you have my makeshift [i.e. desperate] attempt to stifle that annoying march of repeated sports scores across the bottom of the screen. [Just a matter of time before ESPN starts posting results of the drone-racing they’ve started televising. **]
**Honest, I only know this from the on-screen guide.
Sharing Your Retirement With a New Family Member [10 Reasons Why]
![Sharing Your Retirement With a New Family Member [10 Reasons Why]](https://retirerenew.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/duf-augie-buddy-gus.jpeg?w=503)
Tried to adopt last August but that one didn’t work out.
DUF [Dog Under Foot] showed up at a Senior Dog Rescue of Oregon pet adoption event two days ago. We were there only to accompany friends in their search, as we had postponed our search…until we looked into this seven-year-old’s eyes.
So, why not share retirement years with a guy like DUF? [Note: Official name not determined till my wife comes home from work.]
I could prattle on forever about a dog’s benefits, but I’ll let U.S. News do that for me.
Note: I retired for twelve months and learned plenty. I’ll aim to post at least one stepping stone per week. Each of these lessons or impressions from that year off will constitute a mini-chapter of my book-in-progress.
Along with my book-in-progress, I’m also looking at setting up an online community.
If you’re interested… [Honest! I’m scaling back my ‘shiny objects’ list!]
A promise: Your email address will be used to inform you of the status of the book and community and will not be shared.
My Retirement Book: Some hobbies require careful consideration.
Face it. You won’t stand a chance against
this millennium’s onslaught of drones.
Here are a few ideas for hobbies during retirement.
[Note: Aeronautics is not on the list. ;->]
***
Today’s post is an excerpt from a draft of my tongue-in-cheek book on retirement.
I’m also looking at setting up an online community.
If you’re interested…
A promise: Your email address will be used to inform you of the status of the book and community and will not be shared.
My Retirement Book: Leave the regrets behind.
There will always be the ghosts of regret. Saddle up and ride on past.
I know, easier said than done.
But just think–you’ve set aside more time for living, for exploring new avenues.
And it’s possible you’ve left behind some people who detracted from your quality of life. So savor that, too.
Here is an interesting article from Time on retirement and regrets.
***
Retire*Renew*Reinvent 