The weather couldn’t be more perfect outside, so allot an hour or so this weekend and dive into a good book.
For much of your employed life, you dreamed about not having to work. Retirement would be great. It would stretch out for years, a horizon with no alarm clock and no deadlines. What will you do with it? Chances are, says author Chris Farrell, believe it or not, you’ll go to work. And in his new book “Unretirement: How Baby Boomers Are Changing the Way We Think about Work, Community, and the Good Life” he says you’ll do it because you want to, not because you have to. He says that Boomers’ “last third of life is being reimagined and reinvented into ‘unretirement.’” They’re seeing work in a whole different way: the rate of senior entrepreneurship is up, and so is gradual retirement. They’re staying on the job longer, are finding second (or even third) careers, or are volunteering. A very interesting read and could be a great holiday gift. Purchase it here.
You can’t imagine being at your job much longer. The funny thing is, it was once your dream job. You couldn’t wait to get to work back then, but now you’re bored and looking for something that excites you again. Reading “Imagine This: Creating the Work You Love” by Maxine Clair might help you do that. Write down what you want. This serves several purposes: it helps to define desires through contemplation and reflection. It allows for clarity, discovery, and affirmation. Later, it helps with visualization to set a path to your goals, because it’s easier to get what you want when you’ve trained your brain to act as though you already have it. Clair, a poet and novelist, emphasizes that an individual’s creativity in their work is extremely important, which she showcases in the book’s ideas, hints, and personal testimony. Overall, I think the audience for “Imagine This” lies in the creative soul who wants to take life to a new level and needs a righteous boost to do it. Purchase it here.
How can you ever bounce back from a colossal mistake made at work? It may seem difficult, but in the book “Mistakes I Made at Work” edited by Jessica Bacal, twenty-five leading women convey that a mistake is not a career-ender. Bacal contacted influential women from several walks of life and asked them about their mistakes, what they learned, and how they grew from it. Bacal advises to identify and pursue work environments that are the right fit for you. This is an excellent book to give to a new graduate, a veteran worker, an employee who’s feeling red-faced, or even YOU. Purchase it here.
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Contributions: Terri Schlichenmeyer / The Bookworm Sez, LLC
