The Weird Gift of Getting Older: Taking Back Your Own Destiny
I went for my annual physical a couple of months ago. Generally that is a non-remarkable event. I’ve been blessed with good health and do my best to exercise, eat right, get enough rest and reduce stress. So it feels really weird today to sit on the other side of two rites of mid-life passage: a breast cancer scare (luckily additional mammograms proved that false); and a bone scan showing that I’m in the early stages of osteoporosis. I mean come on, I’m barely pushing 46! When I watch Sally Field talking about bone loss and Boniva on TV, I don’t think that she’s actually talking to ME.
One of my clients also had a breast cancer scare recently (luckily a false alarm for her too). Other’s are sick and tired of the bullsh*t they have to deal with everyday at their jobs: highly political and toxic workplaces; long hours without promotions or pay increases; the now chronic threat of being laid off; and the constant changes in organization structure and “strategy” (really knee-jerk and fear-based reactions to a soft economy) that leave people and their jobs in a non-productive and draining state of never-ending chaos.
Not surprisingly, coaching sessions of late have taken on a bit of a common theme: I am not going to live forever after all. So is this job really worth what it’s costing me? And what are my options?
I’ve actually come to appreciate over the past two months my body’s reminders that time is flying by. It is so easy for us to forget (especially us High Potentials and High Achievers) that we actually don’t have forever left on our time clock. We get sucked into our busy-crazy lives and the “real” world of our corporate jobs. And we forget that how that simple fact of our own mortality can actually help us break free to create more of the work/life we really want.
The implications are tremendous for organizations who need — more than ever — top-notch talent to survive and thrive. Whatever the broader economic news might say for now, the opportunity for leaders and professionals to grow their careers and even get their life back has never been better. All you need is to take back control of your own destiny.
