{"id":590,"date":"2010-10-18T16:47:14","date_gmt":"2010-10-18T23:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/?p=590"},"modified":"2013-02-11T16:18:09","modified_gmt":"2013-02-12T00:18:09","slug":"expert-series-your-job-how-to-stay-personally-relevant-now-and-in-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/expert-series-your-job-how-to-stay-personally-relevant-now-and-in-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Expert Series: Your Job: How To Stay Personally Relevant \u2026 Now And In The Future?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThe illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.\u201d\u00a0 \u2013 Alvin Toffler<\/strong><\/p>\n

I heard a couple of acquaintances talk about a person they work with that was \u201colder\u201d and no longer contributing to their business. This person apparently couldn\u2019t, or wouldn\u2019t, learn new skills.\u00a0 Or, for that matter, even keep up with the skill-set needed for the job. Age was mentioned, and not favorably. They thought this person should be \u201cput out to pasture.\u201d\u00a0 Perhaps this person was too \u201cold\u201d to be open to new ideas or learn new things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is a test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: <\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you\u2019re alive, it isn\u2019t.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 Richard Bach<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The only time you\u2019re too old to learn is when you\u2019re dead \u2013 and even that, in my mind, is open to debate. Learning is a life mindset. Life, no matter how you look at it, is a never-ending learning experience. You, personally, have to figure out how to stay in a constant learning mode. Willing to unlearn, learn and relearn in a non-stop churn. No one can do it for you.<\/p>\n

Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death. <\/strong><\/p>\n

– Albert Einstein<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A MINIMUM NECESSITY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whether it was true or not for the person in question, I don\u2019t know. But, in defense of this person, with the supraluminal revolution in technology, social media and web 2.0 applications \u2013 just keeping up \u2013 young or old \u2013 is a true challenge. Not easy. In fact, it can be overwhelming. But if you want to\u00a0keep your job, stay relevant, add value and expand your life\u2019s reach, at a minimum, keeping up is a necessity. You have to step outside your life\u2019s comfort cocoon.<\/p>\n

LEARN \u2013 UNLEARN \u2013 RELEARN<\/strong><\/p>\n

No one would argue that it\u2019s easier to learn new things quicker when you\u2019re young. You have a lot of unused and uncorrupted space in your brain when you\u2019re young. It\u2019s not clouded with frivolous, meaningless, mental-dross drummed into it for years. But, true wisdom \u2026 that only comes through experience. It can\u2019t be taught, only experienced–then understood. That only comes with hard-earned years of living in the real world and has oft been referred to as \u201cWisdom of the Elders.\u201d<\/p>\n

THE TIMES WE LIVE IN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Consider:<\/p>\n

The aging demographics \u2013 Americans 55 and older \u2013 will almost double between now and 2030 \u2013 from 60 million today\u00a0to 107.6 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n

American life expectancy is at an all-time high and death rates are at an all-time low.<\/a><\/p>\n

The global economic crisis has wiped out, or severely impacted, a lot of middle and senior-aged people\u2019s life savings. Working long after retirement age is no longer just a luxury; it may become a necessity in future.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some people are already feeling the pinch, working one, two and even three separate jobs to make ends meet.<\/p>\n

But really, if you live longer, is working longer that big of a deal? Is that so bad? Considering the alternatives? I don\u2019t think so. But staying flexible, open to new ideas and relevant to the workforce is a big deal \u2013 now and in the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

HOW TO DO IT?<\/strong><\/p>\n

So how do you stay relevant in your job? And not just relevant \u2013 how do you learn, grow, add value to any business or undertaking, and create a life full of meaningful experiences? A legacy to be proud of when you cross the Great Divide to return no more?<\/p>\n

I decided to make a potential list of\u00a0ideas to consider –based upon my observation of people I know, that continually find new ways to be successful. I\u2019ve been around a lot of effervescent folks in their 70\u2032s and 80\u2032s who are still successful and growing, both on a personal and business level. One friend is 83 years old and recently sold a screenplay for a five figure sum. 83 years old and still telling and selling stories.<\/p>\n

This is more of an ongoing evolving note to myself, but I hope it may be helpful to others. Of course, I had to come up with a mnemonic to help myself remember the ideas \u2013 a little cheesy, I know.<\/p>\n

HOW TO STAY R-E-L-E-V-A-N-T<\/strong><\/p>\n

R<\/strong>ISK<\/p>\n

Risk being wrong if it can lead to good. Risk looking dumb, sounding goofy, admitting you don\u2019t know something. Risk acknowledging that you may be aging but with focus and determination, all that means is you\u2019re becoming more wise, and more valuable–in business and life.<\/p>\n

Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it. <\/strong><\/p>\n

E<\/strong>XPERIMENT<\/p>\n

Become your company or business\u00a0CEO \u2013 the Chief Experimenting Officer. <\/em>Experiment. Learn. Fail. Grow. <\/em>For example, if you\u2019re in PR, Sales or Marketing,\u00a0you should always be at the front of the learning curve. Experiment. Act purposefully each day to learn something new, to stretch the boundaries of your mind.<\/p>\n

Example. Are you on Twitter? <\/a>Facebook?<\/a> YouTube? LinkedIn<\/a>?\u00a0 If not, try it.\u00a0 Do you know what a widget is?\u00a0 If not, learn. Make one. Go to Widgetbox.com<\/a> and force yourself to figure it out. Challenge commonly held assumptions \u2026 like Google and Bing are the best search engines and rule the world. Have you tried LeapFish<\/a>? Check it out \u2013 you\u2019ll find they don\u2019t. Or if you\u2019re in sales, challenge the belief that the PowerPoint presentation is obligatory (and boring) but you have to do it. You don\u2019t. Try SlideRocket?<\/a> It\u2019ll open your eyes. In Marketing? Need to get a creative campaign quickly off the ground with multimedia storytelling but can\u2019t really afford it? Or want to do it in-house but don\u2019t have the skills?\u00a0 Try Animoto.<\/a> It\u2019s easy to produce \u201cbeautifully orchestrated, completely unique video pieces from your photos, video clips and music\u201d<\/em> Fast, free,\u00a0easy. I could go on and on. Look, experiment \u2026 and you will find.<\/p>\n

I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. <\/strong><\/p>\n

He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favour in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. <\/strong><\/p>\n

– Henry David Thoreau<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

L<\/strong>ISTEN & LEARN<\/p>\n

Think. Listen. Question. Speak. Make those four things equal 100 percent of your time. If you do that you\u2019ll note that speaking equals only 25% of the time. Discipline yourself,\u00a0 listen, think, question 75% of the time.<\/p>\n

If you have a big mouth like me, that\u2019s a tough one.<\/p>\n

Read. Read a book a week. On diverse topics. Not just those you\u2019re focused on or are an expert at. I\u2019m doing it this year. And \u2026 it can be mentally eviscerating. My first book was Oswald Spengler\u2019s \u201cDecline of the West,\u201d published in 1918.I tracked it down and read it only because it had a huge impact on one of my favorite communicators and quite possibly the greatest mythologists of all time, Joseph Campbell.<\/p>\n

To be completely fair, it was palatably unpalatable. Like swallowing a dead snake that had been run over 1,325 times and lying on a desert highway for days.<\/p>\n

Difficult but doable. Like eating Army food.<\/p>\n

I learned something though. Inspiration and influence is completely and contextually individual. What has extreme value and meaning to one person is completely meaningless or obtuse to another.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Work begins when you don\u2019t like what you\u2019re doing. Tension, a lack of honesty, and a sense of unreality come from following the wrong force in your life. <\/strong><\/p>\n

As an adult, you must rediscover the moving power of your life!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 Joseph Campbell<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The \u201cmoving power of your life\u201d<\/em> is what resonates with you \u2013 and only you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

E<\/strong>NGAGE<\/p>\n

Engage. Jump in. Go for it. Do it. Act. Now.<\/p>\n

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn\u2019t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. <\/strong><\/p>\n

– Mark Twain<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Engage. Reach out to other employees, customers, prospects and new friends via social media or other ways. It\u2019s never been easier. It\u2019s ok \u2013 really. The more human and authentic you are, the more fun and beneficial it will be to all. And really reach out to the new and younger folks in your company. Don\u2019t be a dowdy doubter, whining whiner or a nattering nabob of negativity. Stretch your mind. Have an honest willingness to listen and learn from everyone. Don\u2019t worry about conflict either. A doctor friend of mine believes conflict is good. But not \u201cbad\u201d conflict. Cognitive conflict. What\u2019s that? It\u2019s a fancy term for \u201cgood conflict.\u201d Honest differences of opinion or points of view between earnest people wanting to do their best. When it gets aired out, good things happen.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s only one thing you should never, ever, ever do. And that\u2019s \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026 Nothing.<\/p>\n

V<\/strong>ALUE<\/p>\n

Create value in whatever you do, whenever and wherever you do it. Even if it\u2019s value only to yourself.\u00a0 Deliver value to your company, your customers, your friends, your family and most importantly, yourself.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is value? Meaning. Something with unique meaning to the people involved. Something they intrinsically value no matter the fact that others may scoff or laugh at it.<\/p>\n

My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I\u2019m happy. <\/strong><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t figure it out. <\/strong><\/p>\n

What am I doing right? <\/strong><\/p>\n

– Charles Schulz, <\/strong>(great philosopher and this writer\u2019s personal inspiration)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Make meaning. Experience it. Experience meaning, and you\u2019ll be alright \u2026 even if the four horsemen of the apocalypse are turning into your driveway.<\/p>\n

The meaning I picked, the one that changed my life:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Overcome fear, behold wonder.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 Richard Bach<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A<\/strong>TTITUDE OF GRATITUDE<\/p>\n

I first heard the saying, \u201cAttitude of Gratitude,\u201d on an audio book called \u201cThe Secret.\u201d I\u2019m not sure where the saying comes from, but I much prefer it to \u201cAttitude of Crapitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

Life moves fast. People, places, moments in time, all come and go, then disappear quickly behind the misty veil of memory. How hard is it, really, to take a few seconds out of the day to be grateful? For living in this time, this place?<\/p>\n

\u201cGod gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say \u201cthank you?\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

– William A. Ward<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s not a platitude. It\u2019s an attitude, and attitude is everything. It\u2019s really all up to you, and has been since you were born.<\/p>\n

When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. <\/strong><\/p>\n

– Tekooms\u0113 or Tekumtha, (most widely known now as the great Shawnee Leader \u201cTecumseh\u201d)<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

N<\/strong>O TO NEGATIVITY<\/p>\n

Just say no. No to negativity. It\u2019s a cancer.\u00a0 Cut it out. What good ever comes of it? Can you think of one good example of negativity?<\/p>\n

Say no to negative people. Negative situations.\u00a0 Avoid them. Find a way to attract and bring into your life people that are not only positive, but have happy, hopeful and joyous aspirations \u2013 and their actions show it.<\/p>\n

From the backstabbing co-worker to the meddling sister-in-law, you are in charge of how you react to the people and events in your life. You can either give negativity power over your life or you can choose happiness instead. Take control and choose to focus on what is important in your life. Those who cannot live fully often become destroyers of life. <\/strong><\/p>\n

– Anais Nin<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Anais Nin is existentially too existential for me though, so I prefer the George Foreman school of thought.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s my gift. I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck\u2019s back. If it\u2019s not positive, I didn\u2019t hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 George Foreman<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

T<\/strong>IME<\/p>\n

Time. It\u2019s free. Yet priceless. Infinite \u2013 but there\u2019s never enough of it.<\/p>\n

Time. Fleetingly fast. Patiently phlegmatic. The coin of life. Once spent, it can never be replenished, nor more earned. So \u2026<\/p>\n

If you would not be forgotten,
\nBefore you are dead and rotten,
\nWrite something worth reading,
\nOr do something worth writing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lost time is never found again<\/strong><\/p>\n

– Ben Franklin<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

SUMMARY<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, how can you stay personally relevant in your job now and in the future?<\/p>\n

R<\/strong>isk.
\nE<\/strong>xperiment,
\nL<\/strong>isten & Learn.
\nE<\/strong>ngage.
\nV<\/strong>alue.
\nA<\/strong>ttitude of Gratitude.
\nN<\/strong>o to Negativity.
\nT<\/strong>ime.<\/p>\n

.<\/strong><\/p>\n

About Steve Kayser:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Steve Kayser is a seasoned Media Relations Director and an award-winning business writer. His unique approach to PR, Marketing and Media Relations has been documented in a marketing best practices case study by MarketingSherpa, profiled as a \u201cPurple Cow,\u201d by author Seth Godin, and featured in the best-selling books, The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott and Tuned In: Uncover the Extraordinary Opportunities That Lead to Business Breakthroughs by Craig Stull, Phil Myers, and David Meerman Scott.<\/p>\n

Steve has also been featured in the following publications: A Marketer\u2019s Guide to e-Newsletter Publishing, Credibility Branding, Innovation Quarterly, B2B Marketing Trends, PRWEEK, Faces of E-Content and The Ragan Report.<\/p>\n

Emmy-award winning former CBS Journalist and author, David Henderson, named Steve one of the new \u201cChanging Faces of PR\u201d for 2009 and also included Steve in his 2010 book \u201cMaking News in the Digital Era.<\/a>\u201c\u00a0 Steve\u2019s writings have appeared in Corporate Finance Magazine, CEO Refresher, Entrepreneur Magazine, Business 2.0, and Fast Company Magazine \u2013 among many others.<\/p>\n

Steve has had the good fortune to interview, collaborate and enhance awareness with\u00a0many amazing people such as Dr. Paul Pearsall.\u00a0 Hear podcasts at Http:\/\/radio.cincom.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Steve\u2019s\u00a0Web Sites:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Riffs and Tiffs Blog<\/a><\/p>\n

Expert Access Magazine<\/a><\/p>\n

Healthcare<\/a><\/p>\n

Musical<\/a><\/p>\n

Movie<\/a><\/p>\n

For more info you can contact Steve at skayser@cincom.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Back to Stories<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.\u201d\u00a0 \u2013 Alvin Toffler I heard a couple of acquaintances talk about a person they work with that was \u201colder\u201d and no longer contributing to their business. This person apparently couldn\u2019t, or wouldn\u2019t, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,22,25],"tags":[128,121,10,127],"class_list":["post-590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-learning","category-thriving-2","category-work","tag-learning","tag-self-realization","tag-thriving","tag-work"],"aioseo_notices":[],"views":73154,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}